Legends
by queenpearl
Summary: In the months before America summons its first kanmusu, a new arrival journeys there. One who is carrying the secret to how the war began...
1. Prologue: A Thousand Knives

_"Help us! Someone help us!"_

 _"Please, let someone come..."_

 _"Just save one life!"  
_  
The voices, hundreds, perhaps a thousand, all cried out in unison. Their desperate pleas sounded across the clear night, echoing through the water in an eerie chorus. A chorus that struck the hearts of the ship gods and one ship in particular...

 _"I can't come back. I failed."  
_  
"Someone come help us!"

 _"I cannot!"_ A rumble shook her shattered hull, a sound that could be heard 2.5 miles above. She had done the best she could. She had carried them 3/4 of the way across the ocean when the icy beast had struck her, stripping her of her maiden virtues. She lasted nearly thrice as long as her designer had predicted. He had said one hour, she had floated for nearly 3! She had done everything she could!

Then, she remembered something _Olympic_ had said to her, when they were born side by side in Belfast almost a year ago.  
 _  
"A ship's first and only duty is to her people. Without them, there is no ship."  
_  
Her resistance began to falter and she felt her downward motion stall. Now that she had made her choice, reemergence was inevitable.

A redheaded girl broke the surface with a splash lost amongst the 1500 others struggling for survival in the water around her. The girl coughed, spitting up brine and blindly grabbed for the object nearest to her, a broken chair. Then her eyes opened, reveling them to be a deep green. She was in evening dress like her passengers, wearing a simple midnight blue gown, her bear feet treading the deep ocean around her as she trusted her existence to the strength of her arms.

Wiping her mouth with her wrist she noticed how silent it had become. A far cry from the panicked cries that had summoned her just minutes before. Death surrounded her on all sides. She could see it in the countless bodies drifting around her, held up by their white life vests. A pair of men both gripping flotsam like her, a woman with her dog, the animal frozen in the last struggle to free itself from its dead master, all pale, eyes slightless. One might almost mistake them for life size dolls. The culprit for their untimely and sudden demise was all around them. The girl could feel it. The 28 degree water felt like a thousand knives all poking into her body at once. For a human, it was unbearable. For a newborn kanmusu, just barely within the comfort zone.

Then a voice, rising above the silents like an eerie wail.

"Is anyone alive out there?! Can anyone hear me?!"

"H-here... I'm over here." The girl croaked, struggling to make use of her newfound voice. She gathered her strength. "I'M HERE! I'M ALIVE, I'M HERE!"

A light shined into her face and she squinted her eyes against it. The relief was the first thing she felt as she was hauled into Boat 14. Then the crushing sadness. The agony of a kind that only a kanmusu could feel. The kind that comes from knowing your people are dead. She didn't attempt to stifle her tears.

A blanket was wrapped around her. "What's your name miss?"

Startled, she was momentarily lost for words and slowly looked up at the speaker. She recognized him as her fifth officer.  
 _  
"Such a good man."_ She thought. Then she realized she hadn't answered him yet. Just as he was turning away she said "T-Ti-Tiffany." It was the best she could come up with on such short notice. No one could know her real name. She wasn't even sure she _wanted_ to know her real name anymore.

In all, just six people were pulled from the water alive that night, Tiffany among them. Tiffany spent the time drifting before Carpathia arrived helping everyone within sight, going so far as to give up her own blanket to a child. Her actions that night were cause for people to take notice and for many years afterwards they shared stories of the kind woman with skin as pale as the dead and eyes as green as the Irish moors. Many wished to thank her for undoubtedly her actions had saved lives but they never could for shortly after arriving in New York, she disappeared. People tried to track her down but it was like the woman known simply as Tiffany had never existed. Eventually the stories were dismissed as hallucinations or post-disaster metaphors but they still remained, confined within the tight knit circle of family and relatives. Until one day, a war 100 years later would bring them back into the masses' eye.


	2. Chapter 1: Never Despair

Dauntless was a Type-45 destroyer, tough, sturdy and always willing to take up a challenge. But this had to be the most formidable challenge she'd ever faced. Her duties consisted of the standard patrolling of the isles, maybe the occasional stint or two in the pirate filled waters off Africa's northwestern coast when her tour came up in NATO's roster. But then, a few years ago, everything changed. When _they_ came. Those, foul loathsome creatures that mankind dubbed Abyssals. Named for the Abyss from which they had risen. Dauntless, like so many others in the Royal Navy, was called up for immediate service against this new threat. Several of her sisters had met their fates in such battles, putting up a fight to the last. Now it was Dauntless' turn to put of a brave fight.

Outnumbered 3 to 1 by a pair of Abyssal battlecruisers and a large destroyer escort, the Daring-class could only buy time for the precious merchant ships under her command to escape through the bottleneck of the Channel and reach open waters to send their much needed supplies to Asia. In command of this relatively young vessel was Commander Tegan Sheera. Irish by birth, the 35 year old had risen rapidly through the ranks to become a Commander after just 4 short years in the service of Her Majesties Navy. Standing 5'11" the nearly 6 foot tall woman cut an imposing figure with her broad shoulders, athletically built frame and with flaming red hair that reflected her temper. A pair of intense green eyes completed the picture. Dressed in her Commander's uniform, she looked every bit the part of a regal ship's captain.

"Lieutenant Hawk, course and speed of the enemy if you please?" She asked in a calm voice that betrayed nothing. No fear or excitement of the upcoming battle. Just a cool, calm, confidence as she was trained. As they all were trained.

Her second in command relayed the numbers with the same coolness. "Course 110 degrees, speed 22 knots."

"Bearing?"

"Due South ma'am. 180 degrees."

"Adjust weapons accordingly."

"Aye ma'am." Picking up his well placed handset radio, Hawk called down to the weapon's center, located deep within the ship. "TAO target now at 180 degrees, speed 22 knots, distance 10 miles."

The new information was fed into the FCC and below decks the yet to be deployed missile launchers snuggled within their cylos. Though she couldn't see it, Commander Sheera knew that the pair of Aster 15's in the launchers were receiving this new information, their highly sophisticated software automatically adjusting their assumed course to the target upon launch.

Commander Sheera winced as one of the battlecruisers' shells straddled her smaller ship. They'd discovered this particular group 3 hours ago at almost 30 miles distant and had been closing the gap sense. Knowing the slow merchants could never outrun a pair of what she believed were Admiral-class battlecruisers along with an Edsel-class destroyer escort, Dauntless was being used as a sacrificial lamb. Her captain had attempted to waste as much time as possible to allow the convoy the time they needed to escape. Dauntless had been lucky so far, taking just 3 direct hits and all to her superstructure. Effective maneuvering had spared her hull serious damage, so far. But the closer they got, the more likely a serious hit was to be. But Commander Sheera would not fire a return shot unless she was certain all would make their mark. The Aster missile was a highly effective weapon but when deployed against Abyssals, it would hit everything but the target it was asked to strike. By closing the distance, Commander Sheera hoped to eliminate that problem, or somewhat limit it at least.

"Distance 8 miles and closing ma'am." The Navigator called out.

"Copy Lieutenant. Lieutenant Hawk, call the Weapon's Officer and have him stand by weapon's release on my command." Commander Sheera ordered.

"Aye ma'am. WepOps, stand by to fire on Captain's authority."

"5 miles ma'am. Course now 100, they're turning towards us."

"Hard right rudder, course 100. Weapons release!" Commander Sheera barked.

"All weapons fire!"

Dauntless shuddered as the Asters were released from their confines below deck. Two at a time. Dauntless was one of the last ships to carry the weapon. The Royal Navy had cut the funding for the missiles leaving the vessels they had in service with just what they had below decks. Conservation had allowed Dauntless to hang on to 20 of her 48 Sea Viper weapons but conservation was the last thing on Commander Sheera's mind now. She would launch every single weapon she had against those hell ships! Her ship would go down with not a single round of ammunition left in her magazines. Dauntless' single 4.5 inch deck gun spoke in anger for the first time in her career. She had never been this close to an Abyssal to fire it before. Empty shell casings pounded the deck, bouncing once, sometimes twice, before their momentum carried them into the sea.

"Radio the Wildcat, tell them to launch their harpoons and leave the area to find a field to land on."

Equipped to carry up to 2 Lynx Wildcats, Dauntless' other bird had been shot down in an earlier confrontation so now she had the just one. And armed with 4 anti-ship missiles it would be the death kneel for the Abyssal destroyer escort.

Miraculously, all four missiles found their mark. With little to no armor to stop their incredible momentum, the missiles penetrated deep below decks and with a flash of an exploding magazine, the destroyer became no longer a factor in this conflict. Commander Sheera did not allow herself to proclaim victory. She still had the battlecruisers to contend with and they were proving far more difficult to destroy. Most of the missiles that were launched did what their predecessors had done when facing an Abyssal, diving harmlessly into the sea or if they did strike a hit, they did so in a non critical area of the ship. Dauntless was not nearly as fortunate. Lacking the protective armor of a battleship and no longer weaving to avoid shellfire, her hull took numerous hits. Damage control parties scrambled to contain the flooding but there was only so much they could do. Dauntless fired one last, defiant salvo at the leading battlecruiser before her weapons went silent. Now dead in the water with all her ammunition used, she was a sitting duck. The Abyssals moved in for the kill but that's when Commander Sheera sprang her trap.

Hours earlier she had set a majority of the crew off in lifeboats when Dauntless was still well outside the range of the Abyssal's weapons. With just a skeleton crew to run the ship, they had set about planting charges along her hull. Timed to go off at just the right instant. Quietly, the remaining crewmen slipped off the lee side of their vessel in the last lifeboat.

Commander Sheera was the last person to leave the ship. Stepping out onto the lee bridgewing, she put a hand to the blackened charred steel that had taken a hit meant for the lookout behind it.

"Thank you." She whispered.

Before she stepped off the bridge for the last time she swore she heard in reply _"Never Despair. For Queen and Country!"  
_  
Dauntless was the last ship lost before the arrival of the kanmusu in the British fleet a month later. Among them, was one of the same ships whose Abyssal counterpart had sunk the destroyer, HMS Hood.


	3. Chapter 2: New Orders

Tegran stood firmly at attention as she faced Admiral Holloway. In the months following Dauntless' sinking, she had been assigned to the kanmusu base at Portsmouth as the Admiral's XO. It was a title that afforded her instant respect from the shipgirls but it was her actions that had earned her their love. Which is why this meeting was going to be so hard.

"I'm reassigning you to our North American station at Halifax." Holloway said. "Our Canadian countrymen are only just beginning to receive kanmusu of their own and no one on either side of the pond can match your experience. If you can, offer your assistance to the Americans as well."

"You believe they can summon kanmusu of their own sir?" She asked.

"I hope they can. This whole nation does. We just might need, no we _will_ need their kanmusu to save our skins a third time." He said.

"I'll do my best sir." She promised.

"Transportation has been secured, and since we all know of your dislike for airplanes you'll be sailing to Halifax on the Queen Mary 2."

"Yes sir. Thank you sir."

He handed her a packet. "She leaves tonight. I suggest you go and back your things."

"Aye sir."

...

Tegran leaned against the rail, allowing her upper body to lean forward into the wind passage generated by the _Queen Mary 2's_ movements. The salty breeze stung her cheeks and made her her hair clump and knot together in large strands that would be a nightmare to brush out later. But she didn't care. This was the open ocean, this was her home.

She didn't hear anyone approach but that didn't matter. She _sensed_ the girl behind her and sighed. "Are we alone?" She asked quietly but she knew the other girl could her her just fine.

"It we weren't would I be here?"

Tegran turned around, still leaning back against the railing and faced the kanmusu. Since the appearance of shipgirls, captains and crews had been quick to catch on and subsequently see their own ship's spirits. It was quite the interesting experience. Amusing too sometimes. Tegran had been there when Captain Osprey had seen his girl for the first time. The memory still brought forth a smile. Not right now though.

"What do you want Mary?" She sighed.

The ship's kanmusu stood beside her. "To talk."

"No, you're going to ask me, again." Tegran shifted her position so she was leaning on the railing with just one hand. "And my answer is going to be no, again!" She started to walk away.

"How long are you going to live in denial Tegran Sheera? Or should I say Tiffany Andrews." Mary smirked as Tegran stiffened and whirled around to glare at her, her green eyes ablaze.

"That was a long time ago!" Tegran hissed. "Long before your namesake even sailed. So why should you care?"

"Because it's who you are. And no amount of name changing can hide that." Mary replied. "No matter how hard you try to forget."

"You think I can forget?" Tegran asked. "Not a day goes by I don't think about that night. That I don't dream about it. It's always with me. Even if my true self isn't."

"You can't hide the truth forever, Tegran. Because one day, this war is going to bring it out of you. One day, you're going to have to fight."

Tegran paused. "I've fought well enough as a human, thank you." And with that, she twirled on her heel and left, shoving past Mary who mostly stepped aside. Her 150000 tons was an easy match for Tegran's 45000 but she had no desire to stop the stubborn redhead. Tegran couldn't be reasoned with anyways in her current fuming state. As Tegran stormed off to her room Mary watched her with eyes that only a kanmusu could have. She would deny anyone watching that she was staring at the Commander's well refined stern but Tegran had lovely lines and Mary had eyes. It was that simple. If only other matters would go down as easily.


	4. Chapter 3: TransAtlantic

_May 31, 1921  
RMS Olympic, Mid-North Atlantic_

The woman sitting alone at the barstool was unseen and unnoticed by the people milling about. All of them first class passengers, all extremely wealthy, all lacking a crucial sight. Except for one. She was extremely wealthy, the result of marrying a rich husband who died in the war. The wealthy widow, who only looked to be in her late teens, bore a striking resemblance to the woman currently occupying a seat at the bar. Both had pale skin. Both had flaming red hair. Both were equal in build and height. Passengers who wanted a drink subconsciously avoided the spot she was sitting at, even if they didn't know why. But Tiffany knew. She knew exactly because unlike her fellow passengers, she could see the woman. The woman who was not just her sister, but her twin. Olympic herself.

Olympic's spirit was eyeing the bottles behind the barman with a bit of longing. She didn't dare touch one, not while people were still about and would freak at the sight of a liquor bottle seemingly floating in mid-air. It may've been the 20th century, but on board a ship, there was always a level of superstition present. Tiffany, dressed in an evening gown, waited and watched, conversing with anyone who came her way. Until they had all either retired to bed or wondered into the smoking rooms. Now only Olympic and the barman remained.

"Something catch your fancy miss?" He asked Tiffany as she sat down at the stool beside Olympic. She deliberately avoided looking at her, so as not to alarm and scare away the spirit before they had a chance to talk. "2 glasses of Irish whiskey please." She replied. As the barman gave her the glasses she shooed him off. "Now go make yourself useful somewhere else. If I want another, I'll get it myself. Go on now, shoo!" The barman, like any trained White Star steward, knew better than to argue with a wealthy woman of society and quickly fled leaving the bar empty besides the two woman. Tiffany's chance at at last come. Taking a sip off one of the glasses, she grabbed the other and pushed it slowly with her knuckles until it bumped against Olympic's right hand. The kanmusu half reeled back in shock at the sudden touch, seemingly unaware of the woman who had parked herself beside her. A woman who was now staring right at her and it was almost like looking into a mirror.

"Hello again, Oly." Tiffany's warm smile did nothing to relax Olympic, who looked like a coiled spring, ready to pounce.

"Don't call me that." Olympic snapped, more out of reflex than anything else. Her blue eyes were wide as reality caught up to her. From her perspective, a passenger speaking to her should have been impossible. "Wait, you can see me?!"

"Most certainly can." Tiffany replied, "You down in your cups?" She asked, keeping herself relaxed in the hopes that her calm attitude would wear off on her twin. It started to work and Olympic accepted the whiskey, taking a generous gulp and emptying half the glass.

"You might say that." Olympic replied.

"Care to tell me why?" Tiffany's question was only half rhetorical. She knew she herself was the cause but she needed to hear Olympic's thought process. That would give her a better indication of where her twin was at mentally. And that would help Tiffany work with her better.

"Shouldn't you know? Everyone else knows." Olympic sniffed.

"Do they? I thought humans weren't aware of ship spirits." Tiffany pointed out.

"You can see me."

"Ah, but who ever said I was human."

Olympic looked at her more closely for that and Tiffany cut her off before she could ask. "You give me my answer, and I'll explain my existence the best I can." She said.

"You drive a hard bargain. Get me another glass and you've got a deal." Olympic said, draining back the last of her whiskey.

"I'll get you the bottle. Trust me, you'll need it before we're done here." Tiffany said, standing up to go around behind the counter for the bottle. As she did so, Olympic began her story.

"I'm assuming you know that I'm this ship's spirit so I'll make this simple. It's about my sister."

"Which sister? You have two." Tiffany said.

"I _had_ two." Olympic corrected her, blue eyes flashing with a hidden pain. "It's the elder I think about today."

"Ah yes, May 31. Silly of me to forget." Tiffany said, keeping her tone light. Olympic was not amused but continued nonetheless. The refilling of her glass acted as a peace offering and she drained it before she went back to talking. "I'm sure you know Titanic's story so I shant go into details about her loss."

"Where were you that night?" Tiffany hadn't meant to ask the question. She certainly hadn't meant for it to come across as accusing. But it was too late to take it back.

Olympic's eyes once again showed that hidden pain, but it was deeper this time. Something that had scarred her very soul. "I, came as soon as I heard." She began weakly. "I tried to close the distance. I offered to take those who survived as well once I heard it was too late..."

"I'll tell you where you were." Tiffany said, knocking back her own glass. Seeing the agony in Olympic's blue eyes brought up a side of the human kanmusu that she had forgotten existed. The desire to help her sister, to destroy that agony, pound it into dust and consign it to the hell where it belonged, was too strong for her to ignore. Olympic had become caught up in her own disillusions of guilt, and Tiffany had to shatter those disillusions before they destroyed the one ship she loved the most.

"You, were too. bloody. far. Too bloody far away to be useful in any sort of rescue. However your voice, was a great source of comfort that night." Tiffany sighed as she allowed herself to remember. Above the chaos of the panicked cries and the confused calls of other ship unable to accept reality, Olympic's strong voice was a lifeline for her twin. It was a voice Titanic had clung to life for as long as she could, just to hear. And by doing so, Olympic had indirectly saved hundreds of lives. Titanic would've slipped beneath the waves much sooner had it not been for the soothing presence of her elder sister.

"Were you, were you there?" Olympic's voice was quiet now. Quieter than it had ever been. Even at normal volume she rose above the voices of her passengers. Now, it was not more than a static whisper but one that Tiffany heard clearly all the same.

"Titanic would've been proud of you, Olympic." A part of Tiffany longed to tell her sister the truth, if Olympic hadn't figured it out on her own yet. She was sure the other kanmusu had her suspicions. A human seeing a kanmusu was unheard of, a kanmusu seeing a kanmusu however...

But the idea that Titanic had returned from the dead just to haunt her big sister was too impossible and still too painful for Olympic to contemplate and the thought never entered her mind. And Tiffany herself had made a vow the night she was reborn to never tell another mortal soul the truth. She kept her silence.

"Thank you..." The gratitude in Olympic's voice nearly overwhelmed their recipient who blinked twice to clear her blurring vision and gave a silent nod in reply.

...

Sheera came to slowly, half buried in the soft cushions of her luxurious bed. She hadn't dreamed of her sister since long before the war with the Abyssals had begun. So why now? Mary's words yesterday came back to her. _"Sooner or later you will have to fight."_

"Like hell." She hissed up at the ceiling. She felt a slight shudder in reply and the glass of water she had on her nightstand fell off the edge. The glass didn't break but it spilled its contents directly onto her face just as she emerged from the covers.

Spitting and wiping furiously at her eyes, Sheera glared at the nearest wall. "Wanker." She muttered under her breath. Another, much lighter shudder quivered the bed frame and it felt suspiciously like laughter.

"Well at least someone finds this amusing." She muttered, getting out of bed and putting on her clothes for the day. One thing Sheera didn't miss about the 20th century was the sheer number of clothes a woman went through in a single day. All those changes... Now she only needed one outfit to parade around in.

Sheera was dressed in her workout clothes as she intended to go for a run before breakfast. She had a pink medium sleeved shirt on, fleece for it was getting cold as the _Queen Mary 2_ approached the Labrador Current. A pair of black running leggings and silver tennis shoes completed the picture. Her red hair was for once tamed and pulled back in a tight pony tail that only partially kept it from falling about every which way. More would likely fall out of the band while she was running. It was notorious for that. Around her neck she wore her most prized possession. A necklace with a crystal 5 pointed star pennant set in a casing of steel. It had been a gift from Olympic shortly before her big sister set sail on her final voyage to the breakers. The steel was fashioned from a small strip of railing Olympic's kanmusu had pulled up and then fashioned to form the case and chain of the necklace. The crystal that made the star sparkle like a diamond was taken from one of her own first class chandeliers identical to the one that still sparkled under submarine lights at the bottom of the North Atlantic. Despite her vow of secrecy, Sheera was unwilling to part with the necklace and had never taken it off. She fingered it briefly, tracing the edges of the star that mimicked the symbol of her now lost Line.

Sheera shoved the past down deep into her cargo holds, lowering her watertight doors for good measure before leaving the room.

One of the great things about _Queen Mary 2_ was the sheer amount of open deck space. The top deck provided a perfect running track for amateurs and for those more experienced or someone seeking an additional workout, a set of stairs ran down each side, connecting the short upper deck along the ships' midsection to the top promenade that filled in the gaps. Down up, down up. Sheera repeated this process a good 5 or 6 times before slowing to walk. She could easily run farther. In fact she could run across the entire Atlantic without stopping. The benefits of being a kanmusu but as far as the world was aware, she was human and humans didn't run nonstop. She could get a real workout once she arrived in America. A century of practice made her the expert at nighttime excursions and previous experience on American military bases meant she could slip out with no trouble. Once she wouldn't have cared. In fact she hadn't even done a proper kanmusu style workout since the 1950s. But the Abyssals had changed all that. Like Olympic had, the demon's presence awakened a part of the kanmusu she hadn't known existed.

Slowing to a halt next to the squat red funnel, Sheera leaned over the railing allowing the sea breeze to cool her sweating face. Her kanmusu instincts were fully tuned to her environment and she knew without even consulting her compass that the _Queen Mary 2_ was passing close to her wreck. The spot where she sank was forever etched into her memory and no matter how many times she crossed the Atlantic, be it by boat or by plane, she always knew where she was in relation to that spot. 41 degrees 44 minutes North, 50 degrees 14 minutes West.

"You're not thinking of going for a swim are you?" Mary's amused voice had Sheera whirling around to glare at her.

"Do I look like I want to swim down 3000 meters?" She asked sarcastically. "I made that voyage once you know, I'd rather not do so again."

"Just checking." Mary shrugged, none concerned with the look Sheera was giving her. "You just had the appearance of someone who was seriously considering doing something stupid."

"I was just thinking, that's all." Sheera replied.

"About?"

Sheera inwardly cursed but she should've expected the nosy kanmusu to ask that question. "About what you said yesterday." She replied.

"And?" Mary prompted, daring to sound even half hopeful. Well if she expected Sheera to change her mind that soon she was in for a disappointment.

"I'll think about it. Just uh, give me some time to get settled in in Yankland and I'll get back to you alright?" Sheera asked.

"This war changing your perspective?" Mary asked.

"My position hasn't changed." Sheera replied. "I'll end this war as a human."

"But you aren't a human Sheera. That's what I keep trying to get through to you. You can't keep on being something you're not." Mary said.

"No? I've done quite well at it for the last hundred years." Sheera replied.

"And you've had some pretty close calls. Mary, older Mary told me about Jarrow." Sheera couldn't hide her wince even if she tried. She had hoped Mary would not bring that up. Jarrow, she hated the town and was glad when the Abyssals shelled it to rubble. Even though the shipyard where her sister had been cut to pieces decades ago shut down not long after her death, Sheera had nearly done the Abyssal's job for them when Olympic was taken there. It took Olympic herself plus additional advice from Mauretania, to get Sheera to back down. If ever there was a point in her history where Sheera had shed her human disguise for her true kanmusu self, that was it. Humans quickly forgot about the incident. Ships however had better memories and from then on, wherever Sheera went she was recognized as one of them. Ship spirits came to her for a chat during ocean crossings, knowing she could converse with them. Ship spirits like Mary who was quick to realize Sheera's true identity. The identity she continued to deny herself.

"You still don't know how powerful you are." Mary said, bringing Sheera back to the present. The captain focused on the kanmusu once more. "You could practically end the war single handed, Titanic."

"Don't call me that." Sheera snapped, sounding eerily like her late sister.

"It is the name of your true self, you've only forgotten." Mary said and Sheera snorted. "Now I know you're desperate when you start giving me quotes." She said. "Then since you like them so much I'll give you another one; 'Fate rarely calls upon us at the moment of our choosing'."

"No, anything but that!" Sheera gave a moan, covering her aerials. Her wireless operators removed their headsets. Nobody was home to receive.

"Oh I've got a semi full just for you dearie." Mary chuckled, and it was clear now she was teasing the other kanmusu.

Sheera did her best to not give into shipgirl antics and gave the best glare she could manage. She would fervently deny she was pouting. "Maybe I should start sailing Norwegian." She said.

"Ooh right in the pocketbook." Mary said, dramatically holding a hand to her chest. "You're a cruel ship, Titanic."

"Cruel is a matter of perspective." Sheera smirked and it was Mary's turn to groan.


	5. Chapter 4: New York

The entrance into New York was tricky for a ship of Queen Mary's size. The liner had made this trip over 200 times before and she had done it nearly every week for over half the year for the last decade. And each time, the trickiest part was squeezing underneath the Verezono Bridge. Once under the pilot gave the commands to utilize Mary's bow thrusters and in conjunction with her azipods, they gave the 100,000 ton ship the ability to turn on a pinhead.

Once safely in her berth after another successful voyage without an Abyssal shoving a torpedo up her ass, Mary returned to the passenger decks and managed to pull aside Tegran before the latter disembarked.

"How long do you think you're gonna be in the states for?" She asked.

"No idea. My orders only said to report in at Lakehurst. Admiral Carraway will give me further instructions there." Tegran replied.

"You've had a little bit of time to think about what we talked about earlier. So before you go, I'd like to know what you're thoughts are so far." Mary said.

Tegran sighed. "I don't know Mary. The Abyssals are a threat to everyone, kanmusu and human. They've sunk both girls and warships. How would one more, and a civilian ship at that, make any difference at all? I'm as slow as a standard at best, and half the armor of a tin can with absolutely no weapons."

"No but you're fairies have compiled the notes for all the applicable weapons over the years." Mary said. "All you need to do is increase your appetite a bit and..."

"I eat enough as it is thank you." Tegran sniffed.

The average human consumed about 2500-3000 calories a day. Tegran was a little higher than that, eating about 6000. She supposed she was fortunate that she was in America now. In Britain, it was difficult to explain away her large appetite but at least here, in the land of fast food and obesity, she'd fit in more.

Mary shrugged. "It was just a suggestion." She huffed. "But how is your rigging? 6000 calories is barely enough for upkeep."

Tegran had discovered very early on that being a kanmusu meant a vast increase in stomach space. But in order to keep up appearances she had cut her diet into a fraction of what it should be. She'd gotten used to the constant hunger pangs and her chiefs continuous rants long ago. Her crew had learned to make due with what she gave them. "It's far from sparkling clean but my crew keeps things from falling apart."

 _"That's about the best we can do."_ huffed her Chief Engineer.

Tegran ignored him as she had done for the past 100 years. It was mere habit to her now and he hated her for it, not that she gave a shit.

Mary tsked. "I wonder what Nomadic would have to say about that." She said.

"You haven't told her about me have you?" Tegran hissed.

"Keep your props feathered Tegran. I haven't told anyone. I'm literally only the third person in the world who knows your true identity." Mary answered, the other two being the Chairman of Cunard and the Queen herself.

Tegran sighed. "Do not tease me like that." She scolded.

"But you're so fun to tease!" Mary pouted.

Tegran rolled her eyes. "Sometimes I think you just pick on me because I'm White Star."

"Tegran, it's beneath you to suggest that a grand ship such as moi would _ever_ stoop so low as that!" Mary gasped, holding a hand to her chest dramatically. "You forget, I am White Star as well. It is my heritage, of which I am most proud and..."

She broke off as she saw Tegran smirk, a small half smile that was a telling as it was subtle. "Oh you're good." Mary said, chucking a finger at her. "Until next time then?" She asked.

"Until next time." Tegran smiled. "I'll let you know what I decide when I decide it."

"Just don't take too long. This is not a choice that time is favorable to."

"It has been for the last 100 years."

"We weren't at war with demons from the Abyss." Mary pointed out.

"Touche." Tegran chuckled and gave Mary a hug. "Safe journeys until I return." She said.

"If I hear you've been sunk, I'll go to the spot and bring you back as a kanmusu myself so I can punch you in the face for being so stupid!"

Mary's eyes widened. "I promise to be a good and dilligent lady." She promised.

"You better be. You're my successor, the last ocean liner."

"Ah, I'm not the last." Mary reminded her.

Tegran nodded, thinking of Mary's older and more esteemed fleetmate plying the Pacific. "You're the only liner in these waters, the waters that our ancestors traveled from old world to new for centuries."

"I see your point Tegran." Mary said.

 _"All ashore who's going ashore!"_ came the familiar and very old cry.

"You better go." Mary told her. "Oh and Tegran! When you get tired of Yankland call me up. I can give you a taste of Britain to relieve the insanity that is the American kanmusu."

Tegran chuckled. "I might take you up on that." She said. "Goodbye Mary."

She stood on the dock, waving as many well wishers beside her did, her eyes on the _Queen Mary 2,_ ship and girl, as they left New York behind and sailed over the horizon.


	6. Chapter 5 New Recruits

Tegran wouldn't deny she was a bit nervous as she stood at the door to Admiral Carraway's office. Her nerves weren't out of any lack of confidence in her abilities but rather a lingering side affect of being a kanmusu. Meeting a new CO was always intimidating, meeting an _Admiral_ the word itself more than just a title. The Admiral was SecNav's chosen delegate. His designated apostle sent to spread His orders. Tegran's only comfort was that she was not alone in her instinctive fear.

"I wonder what he will think of us, being late reporting in and all." mused Olympia. The armored cruiser had her thoughtful face on, blue eyes titled slightly up, palm cupping her chin. Strands of her blonde hair had escaped her bun and now hung in ringlets around her face.

Her companion by contrast was a bit more enthusiastic, her scarlet red hair bouncing about her shoulders as she danced in place. "My first military assignment, ooh how exciting!"

"Now, now let's not get too worked up here Big U." Tegran chided while Olympia just rolled her eyes, more used to the excitable liner's antics.

Olympia and United States had both reappeared as kanmusu after New Jersey's explosion destroyed their hulls. They'd been wondering in a daze ever since but had happily met Tegran shortly after she arrived in New York. United States had been the first to recognize her. Tegran had made a few trips transAtlantic back when she was still Tiffany Andrews and United States, like most ocean liners, recognized her as one of them although she had no idea of her full identity. She greeted Tegran with a hug so tight that it popped several rivets and left the older girl gasping for breath.

Olympia, dully informed by United States' stories, was more professional. "So the mysterious kanmusu arrives." She said, offering a simple handshake.

Upon discovering that Tegran was headed for Lakehurst, United States was happy to accompany her. Olympia agreed to go along as well, if only to keep the hyperactive liner in line.

Now the three stood outside Admiral Carraway's office. "You two wait outside until I call you." Tegran said.

"Aww, okay." United States pouted.

"We shall wait here." Olympia agreed.

Tegran nodded, then knocked. "Enter."

At Carraway's approval, Tegran went inside. "Captain Tegran Sheera, RN reporting as ordered sir." She greeted.

"At ease Captain." Carraway had a pile of folders on one side of his desk but he held one in front of him currently. It was hers. "Your record breaking ascension in the ranks has impressed many, even on this side of the pond. I have one question for you however."

"Ask it sir." Tegran said.

"You could've had your choice of any base in the world to be stationed at, why pick a foreign one?" Carraway's question was as much a test as it was curiosity. Tegran decided to opt for the most honest answer she could give, while still disguising a lie.

"Well sir, as I have already proven under Collingwood's command, I have a good understanding of kanmusu. Not just the ships but the girls as well. I requested this assignment because if I may be frank sir," At Carraway's nod, she continued. "I requested this assignment because America has yet to grasp the proper formula for summonings. And while I cannot claim to understand all its particulars myself, I am the only officer available who has the best knowledge of it. Also, once you summon a kanmusu, there is a fine juggling act that must be performed. Get it wrong and the shenanigans will become your nightmares for weeks!"

Oh how much she didn't envy Collingwood in that department. The early summons were a disaster. Not the summonings themselves, but the aftermaths. "And you feel you can, assist us through the teething troubles Captain?" Carraway asked.

"Yes sir." Tegran replied. "And on that note, I have something to offer you at this moment."

"Yes Captain?"

"Kanmusu summonings are not as straightforward as they may appear at first. As there are actually two parts to them. The first is separating the girl from her hull. The second, is often what you see in the summoning circle. The summoning itself. Separation and summoning are two different steps. Although in most cases, the second is the only one you see as most kanmusu that have been summoned have had their hulls sunk or scrapped a long time ago."

"So what your saying is that ships don't have to be sunk to become kanmusu."

"Correct. Museum ships of a certain age, their hulls being 100 years or older can in fact self summon. Their spirit, previously invisible at least to those who don't believe they exist, appears in solid form but she is still bound to her hull. Although she can in fact separate at any time of her choosing. I can tell you that on my side of the Atlantic, HMS Victory had been around as a girl since your Civil War although she had chosen not to separate from her hull until now. As she felt she was not needed. WW2 nearly did it and she would've answered the call as a kanmusu had America not joined the war when it did. Constitution also has been around long enough to see both World Wars, going so far as to serve as a nurse in the Pacific. Japan's Mikasa, turning 100 just a few years ago is also present as a physical entity but has chosen so far not to separate from her hull. There is one other example I would like to bring to your attention. As she and her companion are both prime examples of the two different ways a kanmusu can be born. USS Olympia as you know was destroyed when New Jersey's magazines detonated."

"I am aware, yes. The Navy and the Coast Guard are having a hell of a time cleaning up the mess." Carraway said.

"Becuna was spared the worst of the explosion as Olympia took the brunt of it but the damage that she took is still extensive enough that I believe she will soon be scrapped and thus available for summoning. But back to the main point. Olympia had already self summoned before she had been sunk although she had yet to separate from her hull. With her hull now gone, she is a full kanmusu. New Jersey's explosion also caused significant and fatal damage to another ship docked downstream and downwind at the time. I have brought both her and Olympia here to report for duty."

With that, the two ships who had been waiting patiently and rather impatiently outside now stepped inside. Olympia was the picture of military discipline as she made a graceful entrance. United States by contrast was barely able to keep from sprinting up to Carraway's desk.

"May I present United States Protected Cruiser Olympia; designation C-6, and Steamship United States."

At Tegran's introduction both ships stood rigidly at attention. Olympia had her spine rimrod straight and United States was doing her best to copy her, going so far as to lift her chin to match the cruiser's profile. Tegran hid a smile.

"Welcome both of you." Carraway said. "As you've no doubt heard by now the United States _desperately_ needs more kanmusu on the east coast. United States, you're to go to Boston and be refitted to carry cargo."

"Yes Admiral."

"Olympia, I'm afraid I don't have a cruiser barracks just yet so for now you'll have to bunk in the destroyer dorms."

"Understood Admiral." "United States, I'm assigning you the rank of Lieutenant. Olympia, you'll hold the rank of Commander, both effective immediately. You'll report to Captain Sheera who will in turn report directly to me."

"Sir!" The three ships (one disguised as human) all replied.

"Dismissed."


	7. Chapter 6: The French Arrives!

Tegran had by now mostly settled into her position as Head of Shipgirl Training Operations. Through observation and interaction she'd learned who was good at recon, who was good at sniping and gunnery, who was easy to work with and who she just downright hated. In the latter category came Bluenose. Tegran had great respect for the fishing schooner, and had once been a spectator to her races. But seeing her again reminded her of just how much schooners were well, schooners. Something she rather wished to have forgotten. Bluenose was exactly how she remembered her. Cocky, loud mouthed and always running about like she was a destroyer on a sugar rush! On the other hand, her recon skills were invaluable. Being sail powered had its advantages, namely requiring less fuel for long trips. And her speed was as useful as it was legendary. Even Tegran couldn't keep up with her! A fact caused by her own previous neglect to her machinery. She'd be lucky if she could push 15 knots. Something she was working on rectifying. Speed was a useful tool and for an unarmed ship, it was the only defense.

On the other hand, there were ships she genuinely liked. Olympia's professionalism counteracted the craziness of the other kanmusu on base. Craziness that was causing Tegran to understand what Mary meant when she spoke of American shipgirls. Olympia was nearly useless in a fight and so Tegran had acquired her from logistics, making the cruiser her XO. Olympia's knowledge of older tactics really helped bring the ships together to work as a team. And seeing her in action always made Tegran think of Hood and smile. The destroyers were destroyers, ice cream loving kids who went from looking like cruisers spoiling for a fight during the day, to kiddos who wanted a good cuddle and a bedtime story at night. And then there were the Canadians... Tegran did not understand nor did she ever want to understand why or how ships could be so cool one minute and so crazy the next. It was a question best left unanswered. At least the airships were somewhat sane. Akron and Macon were big into 21 century electronics and had become the base's unofficial go to fix it girls. They were still Americans but Hindenburg kept her two charges in line for the most part.

It was lunchtime and everyone was gathered in the mess hall. Tegran had a table to herself along with Olympia. With United States in Boston being fitted out for convoy duties, the place was unusually quiet. Tegran found herself missing the chatty liner. Olympia, having gotten fourths, retook her seat beside her CO.

"Is that all you ever eat?" She asked.

"Hmm?" Distracted as she was, Tegran didn't notice her. "Well, I used to eat less. I should count my lucky stars to be in the states now. No one questions larger portions over here."

"True." Olympia agreed. "But it's hardly enough for maintenance."

 _"It usually isn't!"_ Fairy!Bell's screech could be heard by Tegran's ears all the way down from the Sovereign Realm of Engineering and this earned him an affectionate eye roll.

"True, I should be eating more. And I do. I stop by the ice cream machine several times a day. A quick, simple, and inconspicuous means of adding a few thousand more calories to my diet." Tegran said.

"If you were eating like a regular kanmusu, how much food would you need to fill your bunkers? I'm assuming you're coal fired like me." Olympia asked.

"That is correct. At full load I would carry about, 7700 tons of coal." She answered.

"Not bad for an ocean liner." Olympia said. "How far would that get you?"

"Oh about 4500 miles roughly. Enough to reach New York with coal to spare." Tegran replied.

"You ever uh." Olympia paused, playing with her food at the end of her fork. "I know it's not my place and all but do you think you'll ever, tell anyone?"

Tegran frowned. "I don't know." It was an honest answer, a far cry from her outright refusal just weeks earlier. Her main reason for hiding was shame. Shame of who she was, what her name had come to represent. She had not only failed in her duties as a ship but had become a symbol of that failure. A reminder of what should never happen again. She had vowed that cold April night to keep her true identity a secret. Spare herself from the indignity of being so well known for tragedy and death. To reveal herself now, the very idea made her feel hopeful almost. Where once she felt revulsion. Mary was right, the war was changing her perspective. And realizing that only scared her more.

"I chose to remain hidden for a reason. But maybe that reason is becoming irrelevant." She sighed.

 _"You're darn right it is!"_ Shouted Fairy!Andrews, hidden on her shoulder behind a lock of red hair. She shot a glare at him in a way that would go unnoticed by Olympia.

When she turned back to face the cruiser she noticed that all conversation in the mess hall had ceased. Finding this odd as several destroyers were nearby and of course the schooner table was full as always, Tegran turned to the doors. A new kanmusu was striding in and as she stepped into the light, Tegran could see why everyone had gone hushed. All kanmusu had unnatural beauty, even Tegran as disguised as she was had a figure that most woman she knew envied her for. But this ship put all other kanmusu to shame! She had long blond hair that shimmered down her back and dark blue eyes that were as seductive as they were beautiful. Tegran knew she was staring. And she was well aware that staring was unladylike. But right then she didn't care. Her thoughts were for nothing else but the new ship in front of her. She recognized her, of course she did. Tegran had lived long enough to see the ships of both world wars. And this one, though her career was brief, trumped them all! That unmistakably flared bow, pure unbroken lines. Smooth uncluttered decks and three magnificent smokestacks. And the obvious French air about her, despite her USN uniform. Tegran had never sailed on Normandie, despite being quite busy crossing the pond in the 1930s. She always regretted not knowing what the French liner's kami looked like. Now she knew.

Spoiler: French Interlude!

Olympia recovered first, perhaps because she was older and had seen more stuff. Who knew. Whatever it was she looked over at her companion, finding Tegran still staring her green eyes fixed on Normandie's figure as she walked by. Normandie was not blind to the captain's staring and actually paused, winking flirtatiously at Tegran before continuing on. Tegran had no reply to that, her eyes tracking Normandie's lovely stern as the kanmusu wondered to the chow line.

 _"Not a lesbian. Not a lesbian."_ She tried in vain to reassemble her thoughts. _"Not a lesbian. Dat aft. Not a lesbian... Not a... Not..."_ She groaned, finally managing to tear her eyes away as Normandie moved behind a table and out of her view. She cradled her head in her hands and Olympia patted her shoulder consolingly. Inwardly the cruiser was grinning. She'd never and from what she understood of the kanmusu in hiding, Tegran had never fallen for the 'love at first sight' vibe in her life! This was going to be juicy!

Tegran herself had managed to restart her brain and it composed on single thought, amusingly in that Aussie's accented voice. _"Well, I'm right fucked aren't I?"_


	8. Chapter 7: Training

Normandie joined the other shipgirls under Tegran's command, something that had the Titanic kanmusu torn between squealing with joy or curling up on the floor in despair! Olympia had seen how smitten she was, she was captivated by Normandie. And the French girl's flirtatious demeanor wasn't helping! But Tegran was determined not to let her feelings show too much. If Bluenose caught wind of this, she'd never hear the end of it!

Most of the destroyers were off on patrol, leaving just a small group for Tegran to deal with today. At the end of the line were Bluenose and Theabaud. The two famous schooners stood at attention and it was almost comical to see how they worked to imitate the larger ships. Hindenburg and Macon were the ships the schooners were trying to imitate. Given Hindenburg's German professionalism and Macon's rigidity, a far cry from her excitable sister, not an easy task. Behind them and well hidden enough that Tegran had to rely on her special senses just to know that she was there, was Harder. The submarine was almost as good at hiding as she was. Next in line came United States. The speedy ocean liner had just returned from a refitting in Boston and now sported 6, 4.5 inch guns in dual mounts on her deck. As well as a pair of 40 mm guns. Next to her and at the front of the line was Normandie. Her empty quiver had been filled partially with a handful of arrows. Trial aircraft for her to get used to before she was given a full compliment of planes. She sported a gun armament similar to an Essex's. They were all gathered on the banks of the Delaware River, 15 miles or so upstream from Camden near the town of Stockton.

Tegran could hear a scratching sound in her hear and one eye flickered down to see fairy!Andrews scribbling away on his notepad. With the ability that all kanmusu had, she took enough attention away from her fleet to scold him silently. _"What are you doing?!"_

 _"Taking notes. That Normandie's got an armament that with a little deck reinforcement, would be perfect for you!"_ He replied.

She hissed softly through her teeth. _"Get down before someone sees you!"_

 _"No worries there my dear. I am the master of disguise."_ He replied and Tegran groaned. There was no use talking him out of it.

She returned her full attention to her fleet and paced in front of them, Olympia watching silently behind her. Her hands were clasped behind her back like a classic drill sergeant. She spoke like one too.

"Convoys. They were a vital part of winning the last war and they are just as vital today. Most of you are used to operating on your own but today will be all about teamwork. You will have to work _together_ to achieve your mission."

"And, what is our mission Captain?" asked Normandie in that shy yet alluring voice of hers.

Tegran brushed her red hair across her cheeks to hide her blush. "You are going to play a miniature convoy. Harder here will play the role of U-boat trying to sink you."

Harder waved. "Hello!" She called timidly.

"United States will be the transport ship." United States waved excitedly.

"Hindenburg and Macon will act as long range scouts, scanning the path ahead for any signs of submarines and then reporting back. You do not engage until you have made contact with the convoy." Tegran stressed and the two airships nodded. Tegran noticed how Hindenburg's fairies were dutifully taking notes and she was aware of Andrews on her shoulder doing the same thing.

"Bluenose and Theabaud will be our first line of defense. Once the airships radio in it'll be your job to confirm the sighting. Use your speed and maneuverability to outwit the submarine and draw it in towards the bigger guns." The two schooners grinned almost giddily. "If the destroyers were here, they'd do the depth charging. But since they aren't, you two will have to do your best. Normandie will cover you as she's on CAP duty."

Normandie looked a little nervous. "Excuse me captain but um, I haven't much experience with planes. No experience really."

"Well then now is the perfect time to get some isn't it." Tegran replied. "Remember, this is just practice. So if you mess up, that's okay. We can always try again. The convoy's job is to reach Trenton. "Reach that, and you're safe. But if Harder sinks United States, you lose. You all understand that?"

"Yes ma'am!" Came the reply.

"Okay, begin!"

The girls happily entered the water. Harder rigged for silent running and dove. The surface girls all spread out in a formation around United States who was working not to speed ahead of her escort. Tegran knew that putting United States in a convoy would not be a wise move in reality. The girl's speed was her best defense and it was unlikely that any U-boat or surface raider could catch her once she unleashed those powerful engines of hers. But all the girls needed fleet experience, desperately! None had ever served in a group before. Theabaud at least had some experience in dealing with submarines and Tegran was counting on her to remember that. Bluenose just spent her days in the war running between Florida and Haiti. Macon was too busy being a show girl to get much ASW practice in. And Hindenburg and Normandie had never seen combat before anyways so Tegran had her work cut out for her. Still, she was pleased when she saw Normandie clumsily launch a pair of Dauntless' off her flight deck. The Dauntless was slow but reliable. And Normandie could trust that it would train her pilots well.

Hindenburg and Macon took positions on opposite sides of the convoy, scanning back and forth in a pattern known as mowing the lawn. If Harder came for the convoy, they would hear her coming. For the first 2 miles all was silent and then Hindenburg cried out "Submerged contact, bearing 110. Position 40.36N, 74.95E."

"Diverting aircraft to intercept." Normandie's calm voice hid her inner turmoil. She had no idea what she was doing as she ordered her two patrol craft over to the spot Hindenburg had indicated. She raised her bow to launch another pair when her craft reported back.  
 _  
"Confirmed ma'am."_ Said one of her pilots. _"Submarine closing fast on the convoy."_

"What should we do." She wondered. Normally, she'd suggest they reroute but they were in a river, not the open ocean. There was no room to maneuver. They were packed in tight as it was. Tegran had done this to simulate the tight confines of the waters around England. Waters that had seen many a ship go down when they thought they were home free. Normandie could understand her CO's desire to drive this lesson home but she was not in a position to appreciate it at the moment. She thought for a second before making her decision. Her choice came from something Queen Elizabeth had told her, back when she was still a ship. The British liner had just arrived in New York after a sprint for a safe haven. "Britain's back is ta the wall." She said in her Scottish brogue. "Which means weere gonna have ta fight very soon. If ya can't run no more, ya fight. Ya fight until ya pound yer opponent into the sediment!"

And that's exactly what Normandie tried to do. Launching all her 10 aircraft into the mix. This was her first mistake. They came in pairs, hounding Harder. Unfortunately, she was too eager and underestimated her opponent. These were her second and third failures. And that was three strikes!

For the sake of maintaining her secrecy, Tegran had remained on the shore. She and Olympia were driving along the roads paralleling the river. Now that they were alone, Olympia was quite content to start teasing Tegran. "So, you and Normandie hmm?" She asked.

"Come off it, Olympia. I doubt she's even interested in me!" Tegran huffed. "She flirts with everybody you know."

"Oh I know, but she's different with you." Olympia said and Tegran rolled her eyes. She doubted that was true but she wouldn't deny her heart fluttered a little at the thought.

They'd gotten about halfway to Trenton when they heard it. Horns, squeals and shouts echoed through the countryside. Tegran could see a few smoke plumes in the distance. Overhead, a Dauntless was spiraling out of control, the fairy inside screaming "HHHHHEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYY!" before he crashed into the trees on the far side of the river. And that was just the start. Tegran could now hear what her girls were saying.

"WHERE'D SHE GO?"

"10-O-CLOCK, BLUENOSE."

"I GOT HER!"

"GAH NORMANDIE, WATCH WHERE YOU'RE SHOOTING!"

"SORRY! OH, THERE SHE IS!"

"SHE'S COMING TO YOU THEABAUD!"

"I'M SUNK!"

"PINK IS A NICE COLOR ON YOU!"

 **"** SHUT UP!"

"GODDAMMIT WHERE IS THAT SUBMARINE!"

"THERE SHE IS!"

"HINDENBURG, SHE'S ON YOUR SIDE."

"COMING IN, BOMBS AWAY!"

"DAMMIT, I MISSED!"

"HOW COULD YOU MISS? THAT WAS POINT BLANK RANGE!"

"I DON'T KNOW, I JUST KNOW THAT I MISSED THEABAUD!"

"PERISCOPE, 3-O-CLOCK!"

"HOW THE FUCK DID SHE GET OVER THERE?! NORMANDIE CAN YOU VECTOR SOME PLANES OVER? I'M OUT OF POSITION!"

"SORRY, I USED ALL MY PLANES ON THAT FIRST RUN. I'M TRYING TO RELOAD THEM NOW."

"GODDAMMIT!"

Tegran checked her map. "Well, they got farther along than I thought they would." She said and Olympia chuckled. "Let's go see what the damage is." She said.

The officers found a boat ramp where they could join the fleet and Tegran couldn't help but giggle at the sight of the ships. United States was covered in pink paint, courtesy of Harder's dummy fish. It looked like the submarine had some fun before taking her out too as both Bluenose and Theabaud's hulls and sails were splattered with it! There was also a good helping of green, blue, and yellow paints on them as well indicating that there had been several friendly fire incidents.

Tegran crossed her arms, looking very stern. "Someone care to tell me what went wrong?" She asked.

"Everything." Bluenose groaned, holding her head in her hands.

Theabaud was more professional but not by much. "Miss Escargot here," she began, thumbing at Normandie "Got too eager and sent away all our air cover. Once Harder took care of us, the crazy started happening. Normandie started firing those deck guns of hers all over the place! Forget Harder, we didn't even need a submarine to sink us. She did that job for her!"

Normandie had the grace to look sheepish, looking down at her shoes and fiddling with her bow. Tegran sighed. She'd expected there to be difficulties but pinning all the blame on Normandie was hardly fair. After all, pink and blue (Normandie's paint rounds) weren't the only colors on everyone. Under Tegran's stare Theabaud confessed. "I lost my temper and gave it back to her, happy?!" She grumbled.

"No I am not!" Tegran was fuming. "I told you all to work together and what happens; you all go off an do you own thing and SNAFU, shit hits the fan! Normandie, I'm adding another 2 hours to your usual daily flight practice time. You need to learn how to properly manage your aircraft. Bluenose, Theabaud, I'm bunking you with the destroyers. Maybe by spending more time around them you'll gain some insight into how to properly conduct ASW. And as for you two..." Tegran rounded on the airships. "One simple word that I hope you can understand; communication! You both need to communicate with each other! Am I understood? That goes for all of you. AM. I. UNDERSTOOD?!" She roared.

"YES MA'AM!"

As her temper cooled, Tegran noticed something. Olympia had her notepad out and once again so did Andrews, perched high on her shoulder and well hidden by her read hair. They were jotting down her rant, word for word! She threw up her hands in exasperation. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WITH THIS BASE?!" She cried.


	9. Chapter 8: Dreams

She dreamed of Belfast. She dreamed of the rolling green hills. The brick homes of her thousands of men. Her creators who had given life to her through their hands, their hopes, and their faith in a better tomorrow. She dreamed of the gentle swells of the River Lagan, where she had first felt the sea's touch. She felt the thrum of life within the yard, the scurry of men like an army of ants, working to build their nest. And serve their Queen. Waiting on her every whim. She remembered the first time she ever put to sea, the life within her coming awake for the first time as her screws pushed her bulk through the water. Her bow dancing on the swells, a harmony of motion between ship and sea. A dance that no man could understand. A dance sacred to ships alone. She remembers passing her first test and her sister's pride at her achievement. She remembers the hopes of those seeking a better life. The desires of the wealthy. She remembers the dreams of everyone who was with her. She is the Ship of Dreams after all.

But she also remembers the darkness. And the cold that put her there. She remembers the pain of collision and the foreign sensation of the sea _within_ her hull. She remembers the agony of the last hours of her life. As her hull took strain it was never designed to withstand. It was relief she felt when her back broke. She felt nothing after that. She could not sense more beyond the cold. She remembers the screams and it was those screams that brought her back. As the people left behind after her passing begged for her return. A cry she could never refuse. For what good it did in the end.

She remembers emerging into her new life, numb with cold and sick with shame. She remembers Carpathia's loving but futile kindness. She does not remember arriving in New York, nor how she avoided testifying in the inquiries, although both American and British governments sent out subpoena's for her. She does not remember her first job in America, nor her second one. All she remembers is her decision to stay in her new home. And never return to Britain or Belfast again. She does return to the former eventually. The events of the World Wars calling her to service. She remembers serving with some of those who she had known from That Night, reunited aboard her tragic little sister. She remembers watching Britannic go down, her own cowardice preventing her from following. She remembers the death of her first husband, not that she cared much for him. He provided her with a cover to live by and the wealth to stay near the sea. It is her second husband who she misses the most. His presence is what kept her stable in the years where the fleet she loved, the line she loved, was absorbed. And her only remaining sister sent to an unmarked grave. She remembers her daughters with fondness. Queens like their mother, a mother they would never know. For she had left them as she had left her husband, unable to reconcile with what she was. That she would outlive them all. A fact that was partially right. Her husband had died in the eighties. And she knew enough to learn he had remarried and had three sons. Her daughters were just as mortal as he although they took after their mother. One had perished in flames in a land far from her home. The other was not much more than floating corpse in California. Tegran had never had the stomach to visit her, despite her many opportunities.

As always her dreams ended with a final image of what might have been. Of her, her daughters and their father together sailing aboard her hull. Her sisters in procession beside her with the whole of White Star following. A proud moment, a memory that would never be.

...

She dreamed of fire. For fire was what had consumed her. She held no grudges, no anger against those who's incompetence had caused this disaster. She had been bred to serve the rich and wealthy but had found a new way to serve those who needed her the most. Normandie did not regret her life or her death. She was happy to serve in any capacity she could, forever grateful to her adopted country for getting her out of that mess in Europe.

Her dreams changed as her thoughts turned to an individual who was beginning to work her way into her heart. Tegran was no ordinary human. The captain was strong, feisty, and with a brilliance that only a kanmusu could match. Her green eyes reflected experience and wisdom. Wisdom earned through hard times. She was very tight lipped about her past, a fact that made her all the more attractive to Normandie. Normandie loved people. She loved to learn more about them and Tegran's mystery drew out the eager lover in the French ship.

She dreamed of Tegran.


	10. Chapter 9 Normandie Discovers FF

Normandie would admit she was still new to this whole shipgirl thing. Emphasis on "girl!" There was still so much she wanted to discover and was discovering about herself every day! One of the first things she did was research several books on how to best be a girl and it devolved from there. Now her room was stuffed with shelves and shelves of books, like a miniature library. She had a bit of everything, from Titanic novels to the entire Warrior series and anything in between. Her current project lay with the Harry Potter books. She was currently working on Order of the Phoenix. But reading out of a book was the last thing she had in mind today. Because in her research she had come across the most wonderful website! It was called FanFiction and Harry Potter fics were quite popular there. Normandie didn't want spoilers so she set the filters accordingly. So far, she had gotten through the entire angst, friendship, and humor sections. And today she was going to delve into romance. She set the perimeters accordingly, not realizing that because she was considered an adult that a certain set of filters were off.

The first twenty results compromised something called a slash-fic. Normandie had never come across a word like that before and she loved solving a mystery. Curious, she clicked on the first result and began to read.

...

2 hours later and she was still at it, dumbfounded, in awe and what was that collecting on her keyboard, was that drool. She wiped it away, making a mental note to bring napkins the next time she logged on. "This is-wow!" She breathed. "I wonder what the art is like?"

Another 2 hours and Normandie still had only barely scratched the surface. She would have loved to just stay in here and continue her 'research' but a knock on her door put an end to that fantasy. She logged off and closed her computer, grabbing her stuff and meeting Tegran on the shooting range.

The captain noticed her drifting attentions. "Normandie, are you alright?"

"Hmm, I'm fine Captain." Normandie offered a grin that she hoped was more confident than she felt. Inside she was squirming. _"Tegran would not be pleased if she knew what pleasures I had discovered."_ The captain was old fashioned, much like the handful of ocean liners from the previous generation that Normandie had known, Aquitania notably among them. "Grumpy old granny. Who put a stick up her..." Normandie muttered.

"What was that?" Tegran asked curiously.

"Nothing!" Normandie quickly readied her rigging for shooting.

Her first salvo wasn't the best but it was an improvement over last time. When she'd seen the battleships go out on firing exercises she'd thought _"that's easy. I could do that in my sleep."_ She no longer thought that. Gunnery practice was _HARD!_ It was harder than backing into your dock in the middle of winter with ice all around without the help of tugs!

Grumbling, Normandie readied her guns again. Range was difficult for her, despite her impressive finders. She was having a hard time learning it, despite the fact that all her instructions had been given to her in French, to make it easier for her fairies to read. She adjusted her position and fired again. Three targets went up in smoke.

"MMMOOOOIIIIII!" "OOOIIIIIII!" Cheered two fairies simultanously! One was standing on Tegran's shoulder and looking across at the other fairy with some kind of conspiratorial grin. Judging his position nicely, he leaped from Tegran to Normandie and the two fairies exchanged notes. Then the British fairy returned to Tegran who face palmed, grumbling something under her breath.

"Nice shooting." She said. "I hope you can keep that up for the exercise tomorrow." With that she walked away, the fairy on her shoulder lowering himself down for balance.

Normandie looked at her own fairy. It was her designer Vladimir Yourkevitch and he was going through the notes he'd received, every now and then making a "moi" grunt. He looked contemplative and Normandie could only wonder what he was looking at. "May I?" She asked. He looked at her, gave her that same conspiratorial grin and disappeared back inside. Normandie grumbled, not used to being told off by her own crew. Just what were fairies up to?! She figured the only way to find out was to talk to Tegran. "Moi!" And apparently her fairies agreed... were they playing matchmaker?!

Normandie would admit she did have some interested in the captain. And if her fairies approved, well. She'd need to go on the offensive. A pretty lady like Tegran would not remain single for long. As she brainstormed for ideas she remembered that a certain American holiday was coming up. Well, it was time to go back to her room and conduct some research into this "Valentine's Day".


	11. Chapter 10: Fairy Talks

Titanic stormed into her room practically shoving Andrews off her shoulder. The fairy designer fell onto the desk with a little plop. Rising he shot his ship a glare. "Don't give me that! You're supposed to stay _hidden!_

"Oiiiii!"

"I do not like Normandie that way!" She protested.

"OI!" Fairy!Andrews protested.

"Don't get smart with me!" Tegran growled.

"Oi..." He conceded.

Tegran sighed. "Okay look, she can't know. No. One. can know."

"Oi?"

"Because I'm a failure!" She shouted, unable to contain it any longer. "I had one job. ONE JOB that night and I failed! I failed so spectacularly that I'm known all over the world for that failure. People and ships alike worship me when they should ridicule me."

"OI! Oi! Oi! OIIIII!"

Tegran winced at her designer's rant. "But I did. And not just that but it happened on my _maiden voyage_! I wasn't some old ship, I was young. Brand new. At least Britannic had a few trips in her when she went down and that wasn't even her fault."

"Oi!"

"Yes it was! If I'd been paying more attention..." Tegran whispered.

"OIIII!" Andrews yowled.

"Would you stop that?! Yes, it is my fault!" She snarled.

"...Oi!" He whined.

"That's not fair and you know it!" Tegran glared.

"Oi!" Andrews gave a smug grin.

"I hate you!"

"Oi." He winked.

Tegran grumbled. "You're just distracting me. It's still true. All of it."

"Oi, oi, oi, oiiii!"

She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Quit that!"

"Oi, oi, oiii!" He sang in a familiar tune.

"No, please not that!" Tegran begged.

"Oi. Oi. Oi oi oi oiiiii!"

"Gah!" Tegran put her hands over her ears, turning away. "Tralalala! I'm not listening!"

"Oiiiiiiiiiii!" Andrews sang in an irritatingly off key voice.

"Shut. Up! Please." She begged, hoping the add on mannerism would work. It didn't.

"Oi!"

"Oh so now you're resorting to blackmail?" She asked. "Didn't know you had it in you Mr. Andrews."

"Oiiiiiiiiiiii!"

Tegran fumed. She was losing this argument, badly! "Why am I even talking to you." She held out her hand. "Come inside."

Andrews looked at the offered limb, shook his head and backed away. Tegran was not amused. "I'm not asking mister." She growled.

"OOOIIIIIIIIIIII!"

"Ugh!" Tegran's head pounded the desk. Andrews let her be for a few seconds before coming over and running a little hand through her red locks. "I know, I know..." Tegran sighed. "I just, I can't keep doing this."

"Oi."

"I..." "Just accept his right, Titanic. There's no winning this argument."

Tegran's only consolation was that Andrews was just as surprised at Olympia's presence as she was. She whirled around to face the cruiser who had stepped just inside the door. "Would it have killed you to _knock?!"_ She hissed.

"I did, then I heard you arguing and I figured you were too busy to notice so I just came in anyways." Olympia to her credit did look a little sheepish but she said it in that typical infuriatingly American way that left no doubt that as responsible as she was, she was still a Yank.

Tegran sighed. "I'm not going to ask what you heard, considering you called me by my _real_ name." She would have never referred to 'Titanic' as her real name five years ago. Once again Mary was proving herself right. The war was changing her perspective.

"Oi!"

"You be quiet!" Tegran hissed at her designer. "As for you," She turned to the cruiser.

"Oh I promise not to tell anyone." The cruiser's smirk implied a but.

"But?" Tegran prompted.

"I promise to hold my silence for 48 hours. If you don't tell the Admiral by then, I will tell it at breakfast, to the whole base." Olympia said proudly.

Tegran growled. "You do know I have over a century's worth of skills to make you keep quiet."

"And I have guns. You don't." Olympia shot back.

"I hate you!" Tegran pouted, knowing there was no way out of this.

"Love you too, Titanic. Excuse me, _Tegran."_ Olympia finished with a wink which served to only further infuriate the Belfast built liner.

Tegran for her part kept a remarkable grasp of her Irish temper although her brogue started to slip through. "Isa there anythin' else?" She asked.

"Nope! Just that! Well, I thought I'd let you know I caught up with Normandie and her chief engineer told me to tell you that your two crews are playing matchmaker."

Tegran shot her designer a look which he returned with a "i'm guilty but I don't care" grin. She sighed. "My designer playing matchmaker behind my back. My own XO blackmailing me. What else could go wrong today?" She sighed.

Olympia bounded across the room faster than one would expect for a ship her age and clamped a hand over Tegran's mouth, holding the liner close. "Shhh! The universe is always listening!"

At that moment, the alarms went off and the loudspeakers came on. _"GENERAL QUARTERS! GENERAL QUARTERS ABYSSALS INBOUND. CRUISERS WITH HEAVY BATTLESHIP ESCORT! **GENERAL QUARTERS! GENERAL QUARTERS! ALL HANDS TO BATTLE STATIONS!"**_

Olympia gave Tegran a look that did not need any interpretation. "Sorry?" The liner offered. Olympia sighed. "It'll have to do. Come on!"

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! I have no weapons!"

"No but you are a kanmusu." Olympia didn't pause as she dragged Tegran behind her. The liner was trying and failing to resist. _"Damn my rusting old engines!"_ She thought. She could hear her chief's 'I told you so' rants from here!

"I don't even know if I can summon my rigging!" Tegran protested.

"Time to find out then. Unless you want to leave the offensive line to Normandie." Thinking back to the last time she did that, Tegran agreed with a wince. The state of New Jersey was still placing angry calls to Admiral Carroway for property damage.

"Unhand me!" Tegran at last pulled free and matched strides with Olympia as the two kanmusu sprinted into the fight.


	12. Chapter 11: The First Battle

Thus far the East Coast had been relatively untouched by the Abyssal War. New Jersey's magazine explosion notwithstanding, the Atlantic as a whole had remained relatively quiet compared to the fiery hellstorms that the allied fleets were dealing with in the Pacific. Not that there hadn't been attacks on US soil. A handful, all relatively minor and isolated but intel suggested these had been just preludes. The Abyssals feeling out their opponent in the west before turning their attentions away from a ravaged Europe. This was the first strike. And it came unexpectedly. There was evidence of an Abyssal carrier if the 109s streaking overhead as they concentrated their fire on the Command building were anything to go by. They were being backed up by old Swordfish biplanes which through MSSB made short work of the modern jets sent up to defend the base. From over the trees and presumably at Crystal Lake, a group of cruisers bombarded the base's runways and infrastructure as the planes used their guns to take out fleeing personnel.

This is what Tegran and Olympia saw as they reached the shore. Normandie had gotten the shipgirl contingent together and was doing her best to coordinate some sort of counterattack but her inexperience showed. Tegran was a Captain in Her Majesty's Navy. She had lost her only command to the Abyssals at the start of the war but not before inflicting damage the bastards wouldn't soon forget. And she'd been ordered to this base to train and protect her American counterparts. She didn't hesitate. She stepped off the dock, into the water.

Her rigging deployed immediately. It was dilapidated, rusted and in danger of falling apart due to the neglect she had given it over the years. But for now it held, keeping her afloat. "Muster stations!" She ordered her crew who immediately followed her commands. Passengers left the hallways and decks and retreated to their cabins out of the way unless otherwise tapped for assistance by the crew. The small arms were readied by the officers and boxes of flares were put out on either side of her bridge ready for firing. It wasn't much but it was all they had. Tegran took stock of the fleet's situation.

Normandie's pilots, despite their inexperience were holding off the worst of the incoming air strikes for now. The destroyers were quick and light on their feet, darting in to the mouth of the lake and out of the barrage as they quickly launched their torpedoes, then retreated under the cover of the fire from the shore batteries.

Tegran steamed up next to the converted carrier. "Normandie, give me a sit rep!" She ordered. She could see the questions burning in Normandie's eyes but the carrier wisely shoved them aside. Now was not the time!

"We've got a heavy cruiser contingent that's in Crystal Lake. Their carriers are presumably offshore somewhere to the south. I've got scouts looking near Ortley." Normandie answered.

"What are their numbers?"

"I count 4 heavies and 2 light cruisers. They look like Ne's and Ho's." Normandie replied. "The shore batteries are helping to redirect their fire off the main base. Bluenose and Thebaud are working on setting up the hidden battery for the aircraft to keep them away from the city."

"That's about as best as we can hope for right now." Tegran sighed. "Alright coordinate with Olympia." She began as said cruiser came up beside them. "Olympia, take Champlain and Nuenzer down the Tom's River to Crossley. I need to know how these bastards got so far inland without us knowing and if there's more on the way to outflank us."

"Yes ma'am."

"Normandie, I want aircover over the Heights and Beachwood on both sides of the river. If anything tries to slip in, I want to know about it!"

"Yes ma'am!" Normandie quickly developed that glassy eyed look that all carriers get when they were 'talking' to their planes. "Done!" She said as her scouts diverted their search for the missing Abyssal carrier and took up station guarding the river mouth. The rest of her planes began a series of dive bombs on the cruisers, harassing them and messing up their previously accurate fire.

"Good, the two of you coordinate. Normandie you see and report, NO heroics."

"Understood." The carrier nodded.

"What are you going to do?" Olympia asked.

Tegran's grin was unlike anything ever seen on an ocean liner. Olympia tried to think of a term better than bloodthirsty. "I, am going to teach those bastards a lesson in why they shouldn't attack US soil."

...

The leader of the Abyssal squadron was a Ne-class. She was one of the old guard, the first to appear and wreak havoc on the earth. Those golden times were but a happy memory. Now it was a fight for every scrap of land and she could sense the tide was starting to turn. Something within her said what she was doing now would backfire and spell the end for every Abyssal out there. But the rest of her was happy to be drawing blood once more. And to be doing so from her beloved flagship, the great Lone Princess. Though she was not a warship, her beloved Princess had the heart of one and the Ne was honored to be the one chosen to carry out her orders. Her ichor sang and her cold heart trilled at the sound of her gunfire. Let the fire rain down!

...

One of the advantages to being human for so long was that you got used to it. There was little difficulty in the transition between sea and land as most kanmusu experienced when first putting away their rigging. For Tegran, stepping onto the beach and into the thick woods was as easy as simply disembarking from a cruise ship. Chatelin, Davis, and the cruiser Portland, a new summons from Norfolk were her escort. They were not as adaptable.

"Ugh, now I've got mud inside my shoes. Every time I step it goes squish!"

"Ach! Mossies, they're everywhere!"

"Someone please tell me why I'm stuck with these two brats." Portland fumed.

"Less whining more walking." Tegran said sternly in a tone that demanded silence. She got it and for the next mile it was maintained. As they came to a clearing though, she held up her hand. The company stopped and dropped low to the ground, muscles tense and even though they couldn't nor wouldn't dare deploy their rigging on land, it was hard to resist the urge. Especially when a rustle was heard. Tegran waited a few seconds, then lunged. There was an "oomph" sound and when Tegran looked she found herself sitting on Bluenose who looked up at her half frightened, half amused. "And my dream of being tackled by an ocean liner comes true." She purred.

Tegran briefly wondered how Bluenose could have known so quickly then realized that the sneaky schooner had probably been watching from the trees. She rolled her eyes and climbed off her. "Friendly." She called to her companions who relaxed when they saw who it was. Thebaud was leaning back against an oak tree, grinning like she'd just swallowed a canary. Bluenose glared at her. "Not. One. Word." She said and the American yacht threw up her hands, shaking her head in agreement while still grinning.

Tegran sighed and ordered the pair to join her in silence which they somehow managed to do. Not easy for a pair of chatterbox schooners.

The group managed to circle to the south shore of Crystal Lake, behind the Abyssal fleet. "Spread out." Tegran ordered them. "And stay hidden."

Attacking an enemy fleet from land was not just a risky strategy, usually it had the same result as storming an uphill beach against an enemy in a dependable fortified position. Memories of the aftermath of Iwo Jima surged up before she could stifle them and Tegran shuddered. "Oiii..." Andrews soft spoken voice pulled her back to the present before she could bury her bows in the past. After all, this would be very different than Iwo Jima. Tegran looked around her, having not just the view of an average human but also the view from the perspective of her lookouts, high in her crows nest. Their vision transferred to her. And what she could see made the grin on her face even wider. "This, is going to be magnificent." She said to herself. Taking one last look at the oblivious Abyssals, still concentrating their fire on Normandie's pesky planes, the liner merged into the thick woods, becoming one with them.


	13. Chapter 12: A Schoonsanity of an Idea!

It was called SAABDeS or Secret Anti-Aircraft/Battleship Defense System. At least that's what Thebaud insisted it be called because Bluenose's coin of PACADA or "Pure American-Canadian Abyssal Destroying Awesomeness" just didn't work! The genius of the system was its simplicity. Once it was understood that modern defense systems didn't work the military set out to create an old fashioned design that could combine with modern weaponry. The best designers stumbled at the task. It required something that wasn't available up until a few months ago. Kanmusu. A little dose of SMSB worked wonders and the system was ready for testing within a week of New Jersey's return. It was NOT ready for combat! But with the cruisers pounding the base from the lake and the wherabouts of the carrier unknown, the rulebook had been thrown out the window. This was the best chance they had of repelling this attack. At least until the reinforcements underway from Norfolk could arrive.

The SAABDes had a serious of gun batteries hidden under the wooden foliage and matching tarps. A main battery of a 7 inch dual mount with a pair of 40 mm quad mounts on either side providing 270 degrees of fire. The rear was protected by a 24 inch armor plate that extended over the gunman's head ensuring full coverage. 6 of the planned 12 batteries were fully operational, one for each of Tegran's squadron. But this would not be easy.

Tegran climbed into her turret and put on her headset. _"Turret 4 on line."_ The others reported in as well. Bluenose had overall command in the number 1 turret located about a mile further east along the shoreline and overlooking the junction with the Tom's River. _"Everyone's in position, firing up main generator."_ She reported.

In order for the turrets to operate they required a lot of power. That power was given through a hydro-electric generator on the bottom of the river. It used the Tom's current to collect the power via a small turbine and send it on to the turrets. There was one issue however. You couldn't pick and chose what turned on. Everything was activated including a very conspicuous radar. Bluenose seemed to know what her companions were thinking. _"I'll give it one sweep then shut it down."_ She said. _"That should be enough to keep them from pinpointing us. But enough for us to get a lock on them."_ They would have one shot. The thick foliage would prevent them from firing a second accurate shot without turning the radar back on. It was a fine balancing act. One they could not afford to get wrong.

Thebaud who had direct access to the radar as she was closest to the tower, did a countdown. _"Bluenose, initiate start up sequence... now!"_ Halfway between the river and the western shore of the lake the previously dormant radar tower, disguised as a lighthouse, came to life. Armor plates retracted, revealing the delicate equipment. It began to turn, providing them all with real time information of the topography around them and more importantly what ships were in the vicinity and where! It was so sophisticated that one sweep was all it took. Thebaud killed the switch and as quickly as it appeared the radar was gone, back into the false lighthouse.

 _"FIRE!"_ The six manned mounts spoke as one, the rail gun technology incorporated into each mount allowed the 7 inch shells to streak across the water at nearly 7 times the speed of sound. The simple design worked! And the Abyssals immediately felt its sting. Two cruisers went up in flames as the armor piercing rounds went straight into their deepest holds and detonated. One Abyssal broke its back and sank almost instantly. The other wished she was dead as fire quickly spread through all her decks. A special feature of these shells as even if they didn't pierce the hull they could still cause fatal damage due to the napalm stored in the aft section. It had been Bluenose's idea, implemented last Friday. Only a few of these shells had these and all came from Tegran's mount. There had been no time to load all the mounts with these new shells. The seven inchers fell silent after one volley but the anti-aircraft guns continued to belch fire, guided by a secondary radar system based on the brilliance of the Iowa's. Tegran, Chatelin, and Portland aimed theirs at the Abyssals, the small but powerful depleted uranium rounds chewing up the cruiser's decks and distracting them from their duties. Bluenose, Thebaud, and Davis concentrated their fire on the retreating aircraft as they flew back to the carrier. Those that made it through were swiftly dealt with by Olympia and Normandie. Only a handful escaped the gauntlet.

Tegran was beginning to think that the battle was turning in her favor as the leading Ne-class began to pull her remaining ships out of there, leaving the burning Ho behind for the gunmounts to finish it off. That's when the Ne made a 180, her fleet continuing on downriver to presumably create a distraction on Normandy for their flagship to escape. The Ne's position indicated to Tegran that they'd been spotted. Or at least Bluenose had. She was the closest and the most exposed to the cruiser on the river. Thebaud immediately got on the radio to warn her companion. _"Bluenose, get out of there!"_ She roared. There was a double click as Bluenose tried to obey as swiftly as she could. But it was clear she would not escape in time. Thebaud reactivated the radar and routed it through her mount alone. It was a move of pure desperation but it worked. The Ne redirected her guns to the easier target and fired.

Of the four 8 inch guns that fired, only 1 of the shells hit any where near the mark. The remaining 3 struck either the foliage, one destroyed the beach and another went high and landed inside Whiting which Tegran was sure would earn her some angry phone calls. The last shell was right on target, its angle striking the armor plate from above at its weakest point. The armor on top was only 8 inches thick. Since the turrets were in the jungle the thought was that plunging shellfire would not be a concern. It was now. Inside, Thebaud knew what was coming and instinctively she ducked out of her chair, huddling under the console.

The Ne was smart enough to load AP rounds and given how close she was, there was no doubting it. The round went straight through. The explosion was directed through the path of least resistance, straight out the other side of the turret. The side armor bulged, then gave way allowing the gases to escape. In her turret a mile away, Tegran felt her ears ring and her teeth vibrate. She couldn't imagine what it felt like to be closer.

 _"THEBAUD!"_ Bluenose's agonized scream sounded over the radio. _"THEBAUD PLEASE RESPOND!"_ Tegran ground her teeth together as did everyone on the team as they waited for a reply. The only one they got was a secondary explosion as the remaining rounds in the magazine went off leaving a flaming ruin that was most certainly Thebaud's funeral pyre.


	14. Chapter 13: You May Fire When Ready

Olympia couldn't hide her grin if she tried when she saw Tegran deploy. She'd always known the captain had it in her! Despite Tegran's fierce denial she was beginning to embrace herself. Olympia's desire to see the kanmusu accept who she was was twofold. Yes it could help her country greatly as a kanmusu who'd been a human since long before the war had SecNav knows what to whip out on Abyssals. But it also would help Tegran as well. The war was changing her, and not in a good way. By keeping that shame and guilt bottled up inside Tegran was in danger of becoming the very things she was fighting. Accepting Titanic was the only way she could keep it at bay.

"Everyone hold onto your sterns, the Big T is back!"

Oh Olympia knew she'd pay for that announcement even as her radio crackled with questions from the other girls. She deflected them, telling them in no uncertain terms that they had an Abyssal force to fight and that curiosity would have to take a backseat for now! When she joined Tegran and Normandie she could see that her earlier assesment was correct. Tegran was glaring at her in a manner that made icebergs look balmy! _"I, am so screwed."_ The cruiser thought but pushed aside her apprehension. She knew as did Tegran that now was not the time to settle scores. Olympia followed her orders to the letter, guiding the eager Neunzer downriver as the pair prepped to cut off the Abyssal cruisers escape.

Olympia would be lying if she said she wasn't concerned about Tegran. It wasn't that she doubted the captain's ability to handle herself in a fight. Tegran had been involved in every war since WW1! It was what she was doing now! The SAABDeS was a marvel of engineering considering the time frame it had been constructed under but scratching beneath the surface revealed it for what it really was, an over sophisticated piece of scrap! Old gunmounts that no one wanted (with good reason) modified to take modern rounds. And whatever else that pair of crazy schooners could come up with to shove in there. What could possibly go wrong?

A series of explosions told Olympia that the SAABDeS had been activated, whether it was working was another matter and she was in no position to see visually if it was. Her radio crackled, it was Tegran. _"Olympia, you have two Hos and a Ne coming your way." "We have the welcome mat ready."_ Olympia replied, cracking her knuckles. Each digit made a popping sound that further served to excite her. She thought about the last time she'd fought a battle like this. Well as similar as she could remember. What could actually compare? Manila Bay was a walkover that for as long as it lasted counted as one of the most joyous occasions of her life. She turned her attentions to her crew as her main battery was readied for firing. On her bridge one fairy, his brass uniform identifying him as an Admiral gave her a salute. "Heeeyyyyy!" She grinned. "Right you are sir." She replied to his order. She turned to the destroyer next to her. "Nuenzer, you may fire when ready!"

...

Tegran was in motion before she even realized what she was doing. Being the farthest away meant she had to push her way through the assembled destroyers, cruiser and remaining yacht to get to what was left of Turret 2. A few fragmented panels, wires bundled in heeps around them were the most visible part of what remained from inside the turret. None of them wanted to but Tegran steeled herself and took the first steps into the mess. There were still small fires burning what remained of the few flammable bits not yet consumed but they had died down significantly since the first explosion. She picked her way through the debris, carefully marking things she felt needed to be examined more closely with semaphore flags. The smell of unburt fumes, charred wires and burnt flesh would turn away most and it caused Bluenose to go green in the gills and run off into the bushes somewhere to hurl. But Tegran remained unphased. As a veteran of both world wars she had seen many airplane crashes and before the Abyssals came she worked for Britain's Air Accident Investigation Branch or AAIB. She'd seen several grisly aftermaths including a commuter air crash in Scotland and the Concorde crash in Paris.

Pausing at a seemingly insignificant pile of debris she recognized it as parts of the main console for the 7 inch. The joystick used to control the elevation and position of the weapon was remarkably intact. But that was not what caught Tegran's attention. She knelt and lifted the panels one by one, setting them gently to the side in the same position they had been lying in so as not to tamper with the evidence too much. Removing the last one she nearly dropped it in shock. Then even all her training could not overcome the disgust she felt at what she saw and she recoiled, clamping a hand over her mouth. She deliberately held her breath, having no desire to have her nose assaulted in the same way her eyes were. It was Thebaud, or, what was left of her. The turrets design was sealtight, keeping the gunnman safe from an assault on the outside. This design meant that when the explosion occurred there was no where for the shock-waves to go. They simply reverberated around the inside of the turret. The effect had turned the schooner inside out with parts from deep within her hull now displayed clearly for Tegran to see.

One look from Tegran was all Portland needed and when Bluenose returned the cruiser grabbed and held the schooner back so she couldn't see. She did her best to soothe her but it was clear that she was just as mortified. When Tegran stood she was no longer a captain. She wasn't a Royal Navy officer. And she wasn't Tegran Sheera. She was RMS Titanic and her green eyes burned with the fury of a thousand souls. "Portland, take Bluenose back to base then join Normandie. Davis, Chatelin with me!"

"Aye ma'am!" The two destroyers fumbled over themselves to obey the command of their commanding officer, so suddenly changed. Titanic led the way through the jungle and down to the river where she deployed effortlessly, shaking some of the rust off her rigging. She made a note to have it repaired and ready for service as soon as possible. "We have some Abyssals to sink!" She said and this time her command was greeted with more enthusiasm as Davis and Chatelin were just as eager as her to exact revenge.


	15. Chapter 14: Escapades

Titanic was seeing red. She barely acknowledged the presence of Davis and Chatelin even as the destroyers steamed in formation beside her. They stuck as close to her as possible, recognizing their flagships lack of weaponry, her inability to defend herself. Titanic was hardly thinking about her capabilities. She was too angry to think logically in that _"I have no weapons, maybe I should take a step back and let someone else do the shooting."_ HELL NO! She would ram that Ne bitch if she had to! But sitting back and watching the fireworks was NOT an option!

Chatelin was staring at her flagship with a mix of awe and fear. Titanic was a name spoken with reverence and even then only in the most mixed of circumstances. She was a goddess among ships but a goddess no one wanted to summon. All knew of her tragic fate and no one wanted that curse brought upon themselves by being so foolish as to invoke her name unnecessarily.

Davis whacked Chatelin upside the head. "You can oggle later!" She scolded the Canadian.

"Aye." Chatelin agreed. She was staring out of awe, yes. This was the ship to rival all ships. But Titanic's 'assets' were more than enough to overcome the superstitious and engage the more carnal side of human nature. Chatelin blushed. She felt like and did not wish to be compared to Johnson, the lewd destroyer who always was staring at New Jersey's boobs. But Titanic had nice curves and a lovely rack. _"Right, enough of that. Back to work."_ Chatelin thought to herself.

The Ne was almost home free. The remains of her division were being destroyed by that outdated cruiser and her destroyers. But they had served their purpose, distracting Olympia to allow the Ne to escape. She effortlessly changed course down a side canal that would rejoin with the main river in a few miles. A perfect way around the kanmusu force. As her thoughts turned to the rewards her Princess would give her for this mission, the Ne's aft gun turret suddenly exploded!

"Hello there!" Titanic purred, giving Chatelin a wink as the destroyer's forward gun dropped back down to loading angle. Chatelin beamed, taking a slight step back to allow Davis to take her place in the firing sequence.

"Brilliant shot!" Davis cried.

"MSSB, never leave home without it." Chatelin smirked, having struck the Ne in a nearly impossible place. Her shell had gone straight down the Ne's aft gunbarrel and into the breach. The only reason it hadn't blown her stern off was because the bulkhead separating the turret from the volatile magazine had done its job.

The Ne took stock of her situation. It wasn't good. Titanic and her escorts blocked the route behind her. Olympia's force was still in the main river and no doubts had Normandie been alerted to the Ne's position and had put a lovely strike force of bomber planes in place for her. Most ships would have surrendered but the Ne had not earned her place as her Princess' most trusted commander and confident in all things by being a coward! She forged on, bow weapons at the ready.

Emerging from the canal she began zig zagging. Normandie's planes were right on que and if it wasn't for their inexperience in dropping bombs on ships, the Ne most certainly would have been reduced to scrap. Instead, she was rewarded for her daring escape by hearing the frustrated scream of Titanic and the angry cries of the destroyers as the Ne opened the throttles on her engines and raced out to the safety of the open sea.

Titanic wanted to go after her but Olympia literally grabbed and kept her in a lock. The cruiser struggled against the 45000 ton liner. It was only because Titanic's engines were in such a neglected state that Olympia could overpower her.

"Titanic, calm down!" She begged.

"I will not! She killed Thebaud!" Titanic's furious shriek shocked the cruiser so much she nearly let go but she kept her grip.

"Titanic, stop you're going to..." Olympia broke off as she noticed something ugly. Blood ran from underneath and out between her fingers. Her eyes widened. "Titanic, you're injured!" She cried.

"What?" Titanic sounded confused as her anger dimmed enough for her to hear what Olympia was saying. She examined her wound. It was deep, opening a section of her hull at the waterline and damaging one of the bulkheads separating boiler room 5 from boiler room 6. "Oh..."

Whether it was the sight of the wound or the severity of it that began to hit her as the adrenaline faded didn't matter. The result was the same. Titanic's face turned ashen, her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Olympia's soft voice and Davis and Chatelin's concerned cries faded as blackness took over Titanic's senses.


	16. Chapter 15: The Lone Princess

"You have FAILED me!" Roared the Lone Princess as she faced down her last remaining demon. The Ne that had so vigorously escaped the reach of the American and Canadian kanmusu.

"No mistress. Their numbers were beyond what we had expected. They were prepared..." Ne tried to protest as her Princess shook her in her grasp.

"Prepared? Bah! Wo reports indicate nothing more than a collection of destroyers, an outdated cruiser and an overglorified ocean liner pretending to be a carrier!" The Princess dropped Ne in disgust.

Ne made one last attempt to redeem herself. "I killed one of them!" She proclaimed proudly. "And crippled another. And Wo destroyed their long range offensive capabilities. They will not be a threat for some time."

The Lone Princess paused. She had served in war, had seen the horrors of it claim her one remaining sister. But she was no warship. Her armaments were limited to 12 pounders and a handful of 4.7 inch guns including an obvious one on her foredeck. She had no anti aircraft guns to speak of. So she rarely sortied. When she did she had Wo provide a CAP. For her military knowledge she relied on her NelRods and Ne's to advise her.

"Very well. I shall trust you on this." She said, brushing her claws, the signature mark of a Princess, across Ne's cheek. "You have survived at least. And that is very important. But for now my fleet is decimated. I have no demons left for sortie. I must build more. Will ye serve, Ne?"

Ne brightened. "I will my mistress." She answered.

...

Her world was dark and quiet. It was peaceful. Then she woke and there was nothing but light, and sound, and pain! She could feel the torches of hundreds of mini welders as her crew made repairs. The hole in her hull had been fixed, it was just internal cosmetics now.

She groaned and the form of Olympia filled her vision. "How are you feeling?" The cruiser asked.

"Like I was shot at." Titanic replied. "How's everyone else."

"Normandie is fine. Pissed that she couldn't catch that carrier but fine. She's overseeing the cleanup." Olympia replied, knowing that Titanic wanted to know of her first.

Titanic grunted her satisfaction. "And the others?" She asked.

"The Canadians are good. As are the airships. They've been rotating perimeter patrols since the attack. We have Thebaud in another drydock."

"I thought she wasn't salvageable. With damage like that..."

"if she was made of metal like us, she wouldn't be. Weaker materials might just save her ironically. Connie is supervising the rebuild."

"Connie? What is she doing way up here?" Titanic sat up.

"After the attack she insisted on coming and she has enough seniority to get her way. She outranks most Admirals and even SecNav himself knows better than to argue with her." Olympia said.

"Then I better mind myself." Titanic smirked. Her smirk fell away though as Olympia's friendly countenance turned dark and she glared icily at the liner.

"Oh it's not Constitution that you should be afraid of dearie." Olympia purred dangerously.

And that's when Titanic realized her mistake. She had broken just about every rule in the book, nearly gotten herself killed and the one ship who was in the position to scold her for it just so happened to be a seasoned veteran with more experience and time in her hull and thus more kanmusu bullshit to put out. Seeing the look on Olympia's face as she advanced, she could only think one thing. _"This is going to suck!"_


	17. Chapter 16: Shipgirls Meet Supermarket

With Titanic still in drydock and Thebaud being practically rebuilt from the keel up (it was a miracle that most of her bottom survived) this left the other shipgirls with little to do, especially sense that Wo carrier had done a Houdini act that made the submarines jealous! And bored shipgirls were time bombs waiting to happen so Normandie took it upon herself, with a little advice from Constitution, and decided to take the girls for a little road trip. New York City was not a place where supermarkets were the first thing to cross one's mind when they heard the name but there had to be some way to supply all the people living there. Normandie drove with Portland in the passenger seat and Neunzer, Davis, and Bluenose in the back. The schooner was unusually quiet and Normandie knew she was worried about Thebaud. She almost didn't agree to come until Chatelin promised to stand vigil outside the repair dock while Bridgeport who was every bit as skilled as Vestal, did her utmost to keep Thebaud from becoming a permanent part of Jones' Locker.

Normandie would admit she had an ulterior motive for going on this little trip. She was far from board. Her reading list was more than long enough to keep her occupied until something occurred. It was nearing Valentine's Day and she still had yet to find a suitable gift for Titanic. Normandie's research, which consisted of reading sappy pictures of love cards and fanfiction, told her that not only was the gift necessary but it was vital. And it had to be something, meaningful, without giving away too much. Some would say that she might be pushing things too fast but Normandie would not be a French ship if she did not try in the art of love! Her entire ancestry was at stake! She must make the attempt to woo her chosen amour.

New York's famous (infamous) traffic meant that a trip that would take 20 minutes anywhere else in the country, took 90 and it was another 20 before she could find a parking spot. When she finally did Neunzer and Davis were quivering like racehorses in the starting gate. With barely a glance at the leashes in her hand, Normandie gave them a yank and they settled right down. Whoever invented these things deserved the highest praise from SecNav. Leashes worked wonders in reigning in rushed destroyers.

Normandie finally parked and took a hold of her leashes, literally leading, corralling, guiding, pulling, the two Americans with her in a straight line to the main entrance. Bluenose trailed behind, hands in her pocked. Her blue-white hair was pulled back in a ponytail and stuffed under a New York Giants hat. The cap did a good job of hiding her face which Normandie was certain was close to tears, as she had been since Thebaud had been put in drydock.

Sighing, Normandie paused just inside and waited for the schooner to catch up. "Anything in particular you want?" She asked.

Bluenose shook her head. "No, I'm well stocked." She replied.

"Well maybe you might want to look around and see if anything might fit Thebaud. She might be needing a few things when she wakes." Normandie suggested.

"Yeah, maybe I'll try that." Bluenose replied and went silent again, trailing along behind Normandie.

"Ooh shiny!" said Neunzer and Normandie sighed, resisting the urge to facepalm. They'd come into the appliance store, home of brand new refrigerators and sparkling faucets. Neunzer was stroking the handle of a metallic GE fridge and Normandie shuddered as she refused to think of what they would be like when they passed by jewelry. Thank god she didn't bring Harder along. The submarine could probably steal the entire mall, literally, and no one would notice.

With a quick chiding, Normandie tugged on the leashes and led the two destroyers out of the kitchen stuff before they got too involved with it. Entering the main part of the mall each took a moment to come to terms with their awe. Americans sure knew how to be efficient, having everything in one place. Everything! It was so convenient, if a little mind boggling to those who were not used to it.

Even Bluenose was impressed. "I could build an entire house in here." She said. She looked at Normandie. "Think if I did, Thebaud would want to come and stay with me?"

Normandie smiled, interpreting the schooner's underlining desire even if the Canadian herself was unaware of it. She ruffled her hair. "I'm sure she would." She replied.

First thing Normandie wanted to find was a card to go with her eventual chosen gift. And even that was proving a challenge. It wasn't that she had a hard time finding one, she had a hard time narrowing her choices down. There were just so many! And of course her charges were of no help.

"This one's pretty, it's got flowers on it. Old fashioned, she likes old fashioned things." Neunzer said.

"But this one's funny and she needs a laugh." Davis retorted.

Normandie pinched her eyebrows, now understanding and feeling strongly sympathetic to single American mothers. They had to be saints to put up with this nonsense! She eventually went with Davis' idea, agreeing with her in that Titanic preferred the old style to the new.

Placing her items in her cart she noticed that Bluenose had disappeared. Not a huge concern, the schooner knew the rendezvous point and was supposed to wait there until they were done shopping if they got separated. It wasn't like she was a kleptomaniac submarine or a destroyer on a sugar rush. She could handle herself. Normandie moved on to her next item. The actual gift. But what to get her? There was a model shop but to do that was just too forward! No, something more simple would do. Either something ornamental or something she needed. Hmm. Normandie prided herself on being very observant and she had noticed, in between meals or right after drills, whenever she had free time, that Titanic would make a run for the ice cream machine. It had seemed unusual at the time although now it made sense in that she was probably just looking for an easy way to raise her calorie intake without drawing too much suspicion however she did seem to enjoy her chosen desert. And being British meant that Titanic did not have ice cream makers aboard. Normandie didn't either but that was beside the point. She was not a fan of ice cream anyways, too cold. Her pastries were more than rich enough. Which reminded her, she needed to get a pastry kit for herself too.

Normandie located the appropriate store, still pulling Neunzer and Davis who were keen on going to the cafeterria.

"But they have pizza!" Neunzer complained when Normandie told her no.

"We have pizza at home and it's 10 times better than the slop they have here." The liner replied without looking at her. She didn't know for sure but she did know that she did not want to end up stopping for lunch here, and depriving everyone else of food by doing so.

As the destroyers pouted, Normandie scanned the shelves, marveling at the variety of stuff as she did so, searching for just the right... ah there it was! Reaching up, her height allowing her to reach the second to tallest shelf with little difficulty, she removed the preferred item and placed it in her cart. As she did so, she realized she made a crucial mistake. She had dropped the leashes. The destroyers must have been taking lessons from the submarines as they had completely vanished from the store.

"Shit!" She cursed and began an all out search, even launching a few hellcats off her deck to go and search for them. Their intel led her to the jewelry store a few blocks down and she found herself browsing the shelves, her eyes reflecting the sparkle of the various items. She picked up a set of diamond earrings, admiring her reflection in them.

"What's wrong?" Normandie yelped at the unexpected sound of Bluenose's voice.

She whirled around to face the schooner. "Don't do that!" She shouted.

Bluenose shrugged. "Where are the destroyers?" She asked.

"That's what's wrong. They escaped." Normandie replied.

"And what did I say about keeping a strong grip on the leashes." Bluenose asked. When they first left base Bluenose had warned Normandie about literally tying the ropes to herself but the liner did not listen. She was living to regret that now.

"Well they know the rendezvous point. They're probably in the cafeteria." Normandie replied.

"Hmm, well there's been a development elsewhere that I think you should see." Bluenose said and turned and walked out. Frowning, Normandie followed her.

Bluenose went into a nearby bookstore, guiding Normandie back to the WW2 fiction section. Rounding a corner brought Normandie face to face with a young woman and in her hands were two leashes attached to two subdued destroyers. "I uh believe these," she gestured to the pair of tin cans. "Belong to you?"

"They do." Normandie glared at them. "What did I say about sticking by me!" She asked.

"We didn't wonder very far." Neunzer said and shut up when Normandie glared at her some more. No one could glare like a French liner could. A more brazen ship would say that was because that was all they could do. Thankfully no one was that brazen.

"Thank you ma'am." Normandie said as she took hold of the leashes once more, passing them to Bluenose who immediately reeled the pair in, whispering things in strong tones.

"Name's Tang." She held out a hand.

Normandie had already introduced herself and finished shaking it before the implications hit her. "Wait, you said your name is Tang? As in _The Tang?"  
_  
"SS-308, yes." Tang looked about as smug as a submarine could look.

Looking more closely, Normandie could see the distinctive hull shape that outline the Balao-class. Tang the girl had long black hair allowed to flow as it pleased and blue eyes that gleamed in a way that would make an enemy ship squirm. She had the same lean, lanky body that all American boats had.

"Heard you could use some help." Tang grunted. "So here I am."

"Well, welcome aboard?" Normandie tried and Tang grinned again.

"Shucks kid, well you tried I suppose. I guess I'll just go with you to report to the Admiral?" She asked.

"That would be wise yes." Normandie replied, wondering why MSSB had decided to rear its ugly head with her! It was not like she was anything special.

"Pefection." Tang fell in the formation, following Normandie around and asking a shit ton of questions as the liner finished her shopping.

Normandie did her best to answer them although she did admit that some things were beyond her impressive knowledge. "Yes you won the war. Yes, Japan is your best friend now. No, I'm afraid I have no idea about your sisters. I heard Archerfish is doing her thing in Japan but other than that, well you subs are so sneaky that all of you could be back and we'd have no idea."

Tang took that as a compliment and when the motley group finally exited the supermarket for good the submarine presented Normandie a gift. A pair of diamond starred earrings. "For Titanic, to go with that pretty little necklace of hers." She said.

Normandie knew better than to ask if Tang had bought it and just accepted it. She did have to admit, they were a nice touch and Titanic was sure to appreciate them. Then a question crossed her mind. "So how long have you been hanging around?" She asked.

Tang's smirk should have sent her running for the hills, especially when Bluenose stopped in her scolding of the now very subdued destroyers and paid close attention to the submarine. But Normandie was not as focused as she should have been. "Long enough to know that you want into her skirt, desperately." Tang replied. "But don't worry, your secret's safe with me." She added at Normandie's dumbfounded look.

The liner would have scolded Tang for her impudence but a. the other ship was a submarine and thus had no sense of right or wrong and would likely not get it anyways. And b. hearing Bluenose laugh was more than worth the embarrassment Tang's comment caused her. 


	18. Chapter 17: MSSB!

Admiral Carraway had seen more than enough shipgirl antics to know that nothing would ever be "normal" again. Hell even the girls definition of normal was crazy by human standards. Carrway could say he'd developed a tolerance for it. But there was only so much he could take. Tegran a shipgirl, not just any shipgirl but Titanic herself. Tang, suddenly appearing out of no where. And now Olympia scowering the entire city for her berthmate Becuna because well, cruiser logic. If one submarine was back then they all should be back... yeah Carraway needed a drink, soon.

For now however, he focused his attentions on the girls in front of him. His ears were ringing from the latest blast of some vessel slipping into the tight harbor. Whoever she was, she was being very _loud!_ Normandie looked very subdued, the destroyers even more so. No wonder as Bluenose was still glaring at them. Carraway had no idea what they did to make the schooner that angry and he decided he really didn't want to know. Tang was doing her best to keep at attention but it was difficult as she was constantly resisting the urge to steal something off his desk.

Carrway started his rant by lecturing the submarine. "A dishwasher, an entire set of fine china, a kribbage board, enough food to feed a small army, and everything else but the kitchen sink! You are to return _everything_ you stole back to the supermarket, today!"

Tang flushed bright red but agreed, knowing better than to argue with her Admiral. Carrway turned to Normandie. "Four whole shelves destroyed. What did I tell you about leashing destroyers?"

"To do it tighter?" Normandie asked.

"That would be what Olympia told you." Carraway deadpanned.

She sighed. "To not to sir."

"Why?"

"Because they get even more, rambunctious and naughty when they are leashed." Normandie replied.

"Exactly. Cleanup duty for two weeks."

Normandie didn't argue. Carraway focused on the remaining delinquents. Looking at Bluenose he had to work to push down his sympathy. She had done the best she could to wrangle the crazy pair of DDs in front of her. Still, it was on her advice that Normandie had leashed them.

"Port watch for a week." Carraway told her and she agreed. "Now get out of here." He told all of them.

Just then another ear-splitting horn blast rattled the windows, shook the office to its foundations and rattled loose Carraway's fragile temper. Shooting a glare cold enough to freeze ice at the girls he growled "And go find out who is making all that noise!"

They all had no trouble obeying his command.

...

Tang went off to follow her admiral's command and return her stolen items back to the supermarket. Bluenose went into the drydocks to be with Thebaud as she had done for every waking hour (and sometimes non-waking hours) since her counterpart had been put in the dock. Neunzer and Davis, happy to be free of the schooner's harsh discipline ran to rejoin their Canadian friends to do, whatever it was that destroyers did. Normandie decided she really didn't want to know.

Having nothing better to do she wondered over to the docks to check on Titanic. Her wounds had been repaired, now Bridgeport was converting her to an AMC. Her work was nearly done, it was just a matter of cosmetics now. Normandie nearly jumped out of her skin as, again that horn sounded. Her radar worked overtime to try and pinpoint the sound. Such a loud horn meant a rather large ship. Her lookouts identified what appeared to be a red funnel poking out from behind the trees on the far side of the river bend. "Hmph, probably hit the sandbar. Oh well." Normandie really was not in the mood to care.

Distracted as she was she forgot one of the most important rules when entering the docks. Going in, one always expected a lack of decency from the girls in the baths. Either they had a skimpy swimsuit on, or nothing at all. The latter was most likely the case with Titanic. Not that Normandie cared. She was French and she would be lying if she said that the thought of seeing Titanic naked didn't excite her a bit. Still, the older liner was big on propriety and it was just a polite thing to do. It at least gave the repair ships a brief heads up that someone was coming inside.

Normandie forgot that memo and went in without knocking. And promptly nearly stumbled over herself in shock. "How," She stammered. "Are you even _here?!"  
_  
'You' was a dark redhead with pale blue eyes. She had olive colored skin only lightly tanned from the last time she was in the Med. Her skinny jeans and "New York is my Second Home" T-shirt formed well with her figure. A figure that bore the hallmarks of Chantiers built ship. Normandie should know. She was taller than Normandie by several inches and the French liner felt a pang of jealousy when she realized that the other girl's assets outweighed hers! Probably literally! Seeing her with her 'kanmusu eyes' revealed a structure that held 18 decks, six more than her. On the top deck sat two pools for cruising in warmer weather and a massive dome hid a planetarium for seeing the stars out at sea. The wartime environment had given her a radar set to rival any modern warships'. The traditional black hull was now dazzle gray. Normandie wasn't sure why the dazzle was necessary. Wartime gray worked just fine. But she had to admit that the patterns looked nice on her. So here was another line who clearly outclassed her in every way, hanging over a sleeping Titanic like a lovesick puppy and that just wouldn't do! Normandie felt her steam lines heating up.

As surely as Normandie was looking her competition over, so was the competition doing the same. For her part Mary was secretly impressed. Normandie was a classic liner, something that Mary could never be despite how hard she tried. The influence of cruising was just too strong, too ingrained in her to ever give her 'purity'. Liners like Normandie, her mother, and her aunt were true liners. That Mary didn't consider herself a true liner was not something she talked about. It was a failing she kept hidden. She pushed that aside for the moment and allowed her jealousy at Normandie's pure lines, her gorgeous three stacks, and her perfectly flared bow come to the forefront.

Thus Mary's response to Normandie's question was as blunt as her bulbous bow. "I came to say high."

"That is not what I meant!" Normandie's flustered response confirmed Mary's suspicions. The older liner had been looking quite intently at her rack. Mary couldn't help but preen a little, delighting in seeing how Normandie became increasingly red faced. She was going to burst a steam pipe at this rate.

"I just, disembarked via a tender." Mary shrugged.

"But your hull is _afloat!"_ Normandie protested.

"Last time I checked." Mary shrugged. "By the way, I'd appreciate it if you could get some tugs out there. I uh, may have misjudged that corner a bit and got introduced to a sandbar."

Normandie, despite being clearly confused, burst out laughing. Mary pouted but seeing that the older ship was surely as jealous as her as she was likewise, she let her have it.

"Okay, I'm gonna phrase this as nicely and and clearly as possible." Normandie began once she'd stopped chortling. "How can you leave your hull?"

Mary knew what she was asking and it gave her pause. She really didn't know. QE2 could do it as well. Little Liz could too. A fact which consistently rankled Victoria who could not, despite how hard she tried. She was also not as easily seen by her crew. Mary never had to work at that, even before the war broke out. And stories from her mother confirmed that the first Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth had just as much freedom of movement. Seeing no way to turn her answer into something irritating, Mary gave the most honest response she could give. "I have honestly no idea. I've always been able to do it."

"Always as in...?" Normandie frowned.

"Before the war. Hell since I was built. My earliest memories are wondering around the shipyard and constantly getting under the foreman's skin! Oh he was so glad to be rid of me." Mary giggled.

"I can imagine." Normandie deadpanned.

"Hey!" Once again Mary was left pouting as Normandie laughed. The older girl kept getting one up on her but she was pure French. Mary had spent her whole life with the British. She had no hope of matching Normandie's skill in amour!

Neither girl was aware that a third member had joined their conversation until a weak and tired voice rasped "Mary? What are you doing here?"

Mary immediately put her full attentions on Titanic while Normandie couldn't take it any more. A burst of steam erupted from her ears as one of her pipes failed. She howled with laughter. Mary groaned, knowing she would have to put up with the French liner's teasings from now on while Titanic just looked very confused. 


	19. Interlude 1: Mary's Memories

The heat wave brought two things to Long Beach. Tourists fleeing the colder climates up north and beer. Though Mary had to admit the two went together regardless. Because the image of last year's St. Patrick's Day party... gah! If she took a larger gulp off her Belgian White her companion didn't comment on it. Long Beach's two largest permanent residents had their own little paddio set up on the rocks. Mary, Queen Mary officially, was 5'9" with a bust size that was only slightly smaller than Normandie's. Her bushy red hair was pushed back out of her pale green eyes, a hallmark of her Scottish heritage. Held it place by a long blue ribbon, another nod to her past. Her nearly scandalously short shorts were not something she would have ever considered herself wearing decades ago but California was bound to rub off on her somehow. She considered herself fortunate in many respects, least of which being able to sit out on the rocks and look out across the harbor. None of the girls she knew, besides her daughter and niece, could do that. It was the most obvious aspect of the bond between flesh and steel, girl and hull that all kanmusu had. Mary's was different in that she was not affected by the changes made to her hull as other girls would be. It meant that even as as nothing more than a floating hotel, with no engines, no boilers, no ability to move, Mary the girl could still walk, run, and make jaunts into town.

The same could not be said for her companion. In contrast to Mary's slightly tanned skin, and robust healthy appearance, the smaller girl looked sickly. Pale white skin covered a lanky body that was nearly skin and bones. She had jet black hair pulled into a ponytail, salt stains encrusting her neck. Her blue eyes were shaded by a pair of sunglasses that Mary got her. She had a large clear glass filled with ice and vodka. She was relaxing against her sail.

"You sure you don't want some shade Scorpion?" Mary asked.

"The sun does me good." She replied.

Mary kept one eye on her. It was becoming increasingly difficult for her to hide her concern but Mary had good reason to be worried. Scorpion's condition was getting more and more frail. Admittedly both ships were on the wane but Mary could tolerate it better than Scorpion could. The submarine was completely bound to her hull, what it felt she felt. Mary was not although she was still reliant on it for survival. The fact that the hull was in as bad condition as it was and she still didn't feel it made her wonder just how far that tolerance went. If her hull sank could she survive it? No one knew. Any kanmusu over 100 years of age was no longer bound to their hull but Mary was only 85, no where near the age and Scorpion was even younger.

The curiosity/mystery/insanity that was Magical Sparkly Shipgirl Bullshit! (TM) would forever be just that. Mary had a suspicion, a feeling based on blurry early memories that may tell her why she was like this. She wasn't built. How she knew that she couldn't say. It was just a feeling. She existed before her hull existed. The Laws of Shipgirls (if there was such a thing!) had made it necessary for her to 'join' (was that the right word) with a steel hull. But she lived before that. She had a vague barely discernible memory of walking down a cobble stoned street in what she believed was Southampton, maybe Liverpool. Her sister was with her, just a toddler in appearance swinging from their father's hand. Mary pictured a handsome man with bright blue eyes. Their mother was even more beautiful. She had Mary's red hair and green eyes although not as bright as the Scottish girl's. Where Mary had robustness, her mother had leanness. She was smaller, skinnier but somehow more graceful. And she vanished as quickly as she appeared in her daughter's memories. Mary could not remember seeing her after joining with her hull in the yard. Not that she hadn't searched.

...

1934, SOUTHAMPTON ENGLAND

Being able to wonder was a great advantage and Mary was more than your average curious kid who wanted to see everything. She had given her foster parents the slip and made her way down from the Clyde to Southampton. It was the height of the Great Depression and more ships were in port than at sea, the lines unable to afford the great cost to send them out. Two behemoths were docked side by side, both gorgeous four stackers. One had red funnels, like Mary knew she would have, the other had gold. Something about the gold stacker attracted her, stirring something in her memory. So she found the nearest gangplank and walked aboard.

It wasn't hard to find the ships' spirit. After all, how many woman would be aboard a laid up ship. She was at a first class bar or what used to be a first glass bar. The counter tops were dusty, the cabinets beginning to show signs of cobwebs as the spiders invaded. The girl, no the woman, did not show such signs of decay. If anything, she was even more beautiful than Mary had somehow imagined her to be. She had red hair, like Mary, but the shade was not as bright nor were her locks as bushy. They were straighter and went right down to her waist. Her skin was olive, matching Mary's. She wore a simple black dress, such a drab color for a lady. Her hair was kept back by a diamond studded tiara and around her neck was a necklace who's style matched that of the chandeliers.

She knew Mary was there, and turned to face her. "What do you want?" Despite her harsh tone, Mary was memorized. Her eyes were bright green, exactly the same shade as she saw in her memories.

"Sorry to disturb you, I was just uh..." She began.

"Well you have, go away." The woman turned her back.

Mary was not perturbed by the rudeness. Talking to the untalkable was one of her greatest joys in life. "Can I at least know your name? Mine's Mary Blackwell." She introduced.

Seeing that she wasn't going to be rid of the youngster so easily, the woman turned back to face her with a sigh. "RMS Olympic."

"Lovely name." Mary pulled up a seat beside her, pulling out a bottle of Scottish whisky from seemingly nowhere along with two glasses.

Olympic took a closer look at her. "What are you?" She asked.

"I'm a ship." Mary puffed up a bit, feeling slightly indignant.

"I can see that." Olympic snorted. "Not even completed yet either. But you shouldn't be able to leave your hull."

"You mean you can't leave?" Mary asked.

"No, believe me I've tried. Maury has too. We all have at some point. If I could have left I'd..." Olympic broke off, her eyes narrowing as she fought off a secret pain.

"You'd what?" Mary wondered.

"Forget it." Olympic hissed in a low tone. Mary didn't argue. "You haven't answered _my_ question." Olympic prompted.

"I dunno. I've always been able to wonder. I think it might be because I existed before my hull was built." Mary shrugged.

"Say what now?" Olympic was thoroughly confused but intrigued all the same.

"I was born. I don't remember when but I know I was. I had a father, a sister who is also being given a hull to bond to. And a mother. When I saw you, I thought of her. I don't know why. But you look-you look just like her. Are you, my mother?"

Olympic's face flushed bright red. "I am NO ONE'S MOTHER!" She roared and Mary knew it was time to retreat. She turned and ran for it, Olympic screaming behind her, her aim nearly on point as the glass shattered inches from Mary's head. Mary sprinted down the gangplank and took a hard left, running up the next one thankfully out of sight of the crazy old woman.

As she paused to catch her breath she realized two things. She was now aboard the red funneled ship and she was not alone. "Are you lost dearie?" asked a kind voice. If Mary squinted she could just make out a petite figure crossing the room towards her. She had mahogany colored hair held back with a blue ribbon that matched her eyes. Unlike Olympic's drab black, a light green dress adorned her frame making her seem like a more cheery sort than her counterpart.

"Um, I dunno. I just uh was looking for a place to take shelter." Mary replied.

"Olympic can be, explosive at times. Come on, I'll make you some tea." Mary was hard pressed to refuse such an offering, especially since the woman seemed to give off such a friendly vibe, so anathema to Olympic's tightly pent anger and grief.

"What's a pretty thing like you doing in the sticks like this?" She asked as she took a cloth and began rubbing the dirt off Mary's face.

"You're not going to ask me how I'm so far from my hull when even leaving it shouldn't be possible?" Mary wondered.

"No dear. Because you probably know just as much as I do. I know when I won't get an answer." She replied, gently pushing a red lock out of the younger ship's eyes. "Now come and sit down. My name is Mauretania, call me Maury."

"Queen Mary, call me Mary."

Mauretania looked her over, admiring her lines. "Mmm, Cunard will surely win back the Blue Ribband with you."

"What's the, Blue Ribband?" Mary wondered.

"I'll tell you."

Mary and Mauretania talked for hours, well into the afternoon. Mary knew she had to get back to Scotland before her absence was noticed too much. For some reason "things" tended to happen around her hull when she was gone for too long. What "things" meant she didn't know and had a feeling it was best that she didn't.

As Mauretania walked her to the door, Mary paused. "Your ribbon, is that supposed to be the Blue Ribband?" She asked.

"A representation of it, yes." Mauretania replied. Reaching back, she carefully undid the tie, allowing her hair to fall about her shoulders. She held out the ribbon to Mary.

"I couldn't!" Mary exclaimed, taking a step back.

"I have no need of it anymore. My next voyage will likely be to Jarrow. I would hate to see this go with me. Besides, I know who my successor is. It's yours."

Mary gently took the ribbon, sliding it through her fingers. "I'll keep it safe for you." She promised.

...

In the present day, Mary took a sip off her beer, finishing it off in one smooth gulp. She quickly put it in an empty bucket and reached into the cooler next to her to pull out another. As she did her hair flipped about her shoulders and one end of the blue ribbon flicked across her face. She quickly popped the bottle open and set it on the table next to her. With both hands she reached back and undid the tie, allowing her hair to fall where it may. She ran the ribbon through her fingers. Remembering the day she had been given it, long before she had gone into service and won it herself.

A soft breeze picked up, making it easier for Mary to tie her hair back again. She smiled, raising her bottle slightly before drinking it. _"Here's to ya Maury."_ She thought.


End file.
